Sticks and Stones
by grnfield
Summary: A fascinating ancient site causes tragedy for SG-1. Months later a rescue mission turns up a stunning discovery which will change the team forever. Starts in series 7 but Janet doesn't die. A bit dark in places! Jack/Sam ship after chapter 19.
1. Chapter 1

Thank you for visiting "Sticks and Stones" by Emma Nisbet (grnfield)

This is my first ever story and it's turned into a real labour of love. Please let me know what you think by reading and reviewing.

#

Thursday – Day One

I had a bad feeling right from when we were standing in the gate room waiting for the wormhole to open so we could head to P7X-962. I couldn't tell you why, I just knew this mission wasn't going to end well. Even I couldn't have foreseen just how badly things were going to turn out – just how quickly things were going to go to hell in a hand basket – so to speak. There was no reason that this mission would be different to any other – albeit I admit that we do tend to get in trouble more often than most SG teams and our Archaeologist more so than the rest of us it seems.

This mission to P7X-962 was supposed to be a breeze. The MALP that we sent there a couple of days before detected traces of Naquadah and other important minerals, the atmosphere was clean and the land was dry and arid, if slightly turning to desert conditions in places. The ground was very sandy underfoot and the UAV had sent back some footage of a pyramid complex not far from the gate. Two small pyramids were guarding the path to a much larger one. The three were set out in a linear pattern similar to the pyramids on the Giza Plateau in Egypt. Obviously once Daniel saw that he was a "man on a mission" to convince General Hammond (and indeed myself) to let SG-1 be the team to go and study these fantastic monuments.

This really didn't need to be a job for the flagship team of the SGC as there were no signs of recent occupation on the planet, no signs of advanced technology or even any current signs of human/bipedal life forms. This said, Carter informed us that on one of the UAV flybys she had detected some anomalous energy readings from the direction of the pyramid complex. However it was only the once and it was generally agreed (by everyone apart from Carter that is) that this may have been caused by an error in the UAV sensors.

Whoever visited the planet would collect the remains of said dysfunctional UAV and send it back to the SGC for Carter to 'dissect'. For some reason Carter herself was reluctant to let another team get their hands on the UAV before her, she wanted to see it in situ on the planet so she could start her investigations on it as soon as possible. Therefore I now had both my 'kids' insisting that they wanted to visit P7X-962 for separate reasons.

Anyhow Daniel was extremely persistent in his hounding of General Hammond and myself, his long suffering team leader. He just 'had' to visit P7X-962 whether it be with SG-1 or SG-11. SG-11 is the SGC's resident 'geek team' which consisted of more members of Daniel's staff than any other SG team. They are generally sent to explored ruins, decipher ancient texts or whatever else they were required to do once some of the more 'military based' SG teams had scoped out the planets and deemed them safe for our civilian experts to visit.

"Just imagine the possibilities. Jack this is set up exactly like the Giza Plateau but the Great Pyramid is in a much more preserved state than the one here on Earth. There's even signs that it's golden cap may still be in place Jack only buried in a layer of sediment that's settled there over the thousands of years that it's been standing there. Imagine it Jack, it will be the first time that we've discovered such an intact pyramid from around the time that our pyramids at Giza were constructed. Who knows what wonders we may find preserved inside. These pyramids have been completely abandoned but not robbed for their rocks or indeed in the case of the largest one it's gold cap. The cap would be the first thing to disappear with the crumbling of a civilisation – especially if you think that gold appears to be a very valuable commodity on most of the planets that we've visited over the years. If the government or rulers had been overthrown I would think the first thing to go would be the gold, followed by many of the stones if a regeneration plan was in action. The fact that the cap seems to be still in place says great things for what we may find inside the pyramid itself."

At this point I decided to put both myself and General Hammond out of our misery and found myself agreeing with both my 'kids' and requesting that the General let SG-1 go to P7X-962 to investigate both the pyramid and the erroneous readings from the UAV.

Hammond agreed with me, I think more to get the two scientists off his back than for any other reason. This and the fact that he knew what I would say if he let "my" archaeologist visit the planet with SG-11. The last time I 'loaned' him to another team (SG-8) he was carried back with an ankle that was so badly broken that Doc Fraiser was concerned for the blood supply to his foot. After that I have been more than a little reluctant to let our resident genius out of my site off-world if at all possible. Of course Daniel doesn't appreciate my 'mother henning' routine – sure he tolerates it but I know it bugs the hell out of him that I don't think he is capable of looking after himself. "I'm a big boy now, Jack, I don't need my 'Dad' to look after me and hold my hand all the time. Let me go and play with the big kids – like I'm being paid to" I still do it though, I can't help it, it's in my nature – just don't let everyone know it.

#

So here we are in the gate room waiting for the final 'Go' from General Hammond. I'm standing there with this almost overpowering feeling of dread for this trip of 'wonder and discovery'. Daniel is bouncing up and down on his toes in anticipation of the finds that await him at the other end of the wormhole.

Carter is standing with her hands full of notes with a bemused expression on her face – still trying to work out what went wrong with the sensors on the UAV no doubt. I know she's itching to get her hands on the damn thing so she can start to pull it to pieces. We'll be lucky to get it back through the gate in the state we find it in – I half expect Carter to start her 'autopsy' then and there on the sandy floor, where we know it finally came down. I dread to think how heavy her pack must be, she's bound to be loaded down with more tools than normal – not to mention the usual laptop and diagnostic devices that she carries on every mission anyway.

Teal'c is standing at parade rest near the base of the ramp. He has his one ubiquitous raised eye-brow and is watching Daniel with what I can only imagine to be mild frustration. I can't blame him – it is damn annoying when Daniel won't keep still.

For Pete's sake what's keeping them up in the control room? "Is there a problem, General ?" I shout up to the window. I've no idea if they can hear me or not – what with the bullet proof glass and a mountain of concrete between me and them I don't have a clue. However I catch Hammond looking down at me with a small almost-smirk on his face and I know he's understood me even if he couldn't hear me. He presses the button on the comms and says, "It's alright, Colonel, we've just finished the final calibrations that Major Carter suggested earlier. They took slightly longer than expected" He looks down at Carter when he adds the last part.

Carter looks up from her notes, blushing and looking a little sheepish. "Sorry Sir, I know I've been a little pre-occupied by the strange readings that the UAV sent back – I just can't understand what went wrong. We can't send out equipment if we can't trust the results that it supplies. I need to get to the bottom of it so it won't happen again. Otherwise we may either go to chase energy readings or minerals that don't exist or even miss valuable data due to deficient equipment."

I somehow think that the latter is more of an issue to Carter then the former. Most of the SGC and also the NID would be bound to agree with her. I think this is probably what persuaded the General to send SG-1 to P7X-962 - the money men and their unending search for alien technology. Daniel's insistence that there maybe treasures in the pyramid must have helped somewhat, My input…probably had very little if any impact on the decision at all. I can't think of anyone more dedicated than Carter to get to the bottom of the equipment failure and Daniel is certainly the best person to investigate the pyramid.

"SG-1 you have a 'Go'" announces Hammond.

"Thank you very much Sir, we'll report back as soon as we have any news on the UAV." I shout back up to Hammond standing in the window. Then, looking at Carter, and making sure she hears me, I mutter, "It's about time too."

As the gate start to spin and the chevrons begin to lock I think, "Why am I suddenly in a hurry to get this mission underway? I just know it's going to end badly."

#

We step through the gate into the dry atmosphere of P7X-962. It's not as hot as I was expecting somehow – still warm though.

We step away from the stone plinth that the Stargate sits on and head over to a few sparse trees. If they can really be called trees any more – mostly they're dead wood now and all the areas of the planet that we've surveyed are the same. This planet is definitely getting drier as the years pass; once the trees are gone I don't think there's much hope for it really.

Carter shrugs off her pack and starts routing through it to find the doohickey that will tell her which way to go to find the UAV. I tell Teal'c that he's to go with Carter and turn to tell Daniel that he's with me. As I turn round I find him clambering around up in the branches of one of the near-dead trees trying to get a better view of the surrounding land.

"Daniel, get down from there, you'll fall and hurt yourself." I yell up to him. "There's no strength in those dead branches. Come down here this instant."

"I can see the pyramid clearly from here, Jack, it's not far at all." he shouts down to me.

"We'll go and find your pyramid in a moment," I reply. "Just come down from there…Please."

Carter finds the doohickey that she was looking for and fires it up. Almost immediately it picks up the signal from the locator beacon on the UAV. Carter points out that it's in the opposite direction to the pyramids and is also much further away than them as well.

We decide to head out to our relevant destinations pretty much immediately. Seeing as we've only just arrived and it's not long since breakfast there's no need to make camp yet and we don't need to eat or drink yet either.

Carter and Teal'c set off in the direction that Carter's gadget told then they needed to go. I turn round to find that Daniel has mercifully got both feet back on solid ground without any mishaps. He sees the others moving off and shouts "Good luck" as they walk away.

"Right then, Dannyboy, I know you can't wait to find this oh-so-exciting replica of the Giza plateau but I'll have you know that you just turned another handful of my hairs grey by climbing that old tree. Do you have no survival instincts? No actually, don't answer that – I don't know why I asked – I already know that you don't. I'm certain that you actually descend from a different race of beings from the rest of us – one that has linguistic lemming genes somewhere in their lineage."

Daniel just stares at me in disbelief, then his face breaks into a beaming smile and he chuckles.

I can't help but smile too and reach out to ruffle his hair.

"Jack, I'm not a lemming and I'm not a dog either so don't pet me!" He complains jovially.

I know he likes it really, and he does too.

"Now can we go and see the pyramids…please…Sir." He grins at the use of my title and even gives me a sloppy salute before bending down to retrieve his pack from the base of the tree that he had been climbing.

I shrug my shoulders and reposition my pack so it sits more comfortably and hold my arm out in the direction of the non-too-distant structures. "Lead on MacDuff. I'll bring up the rear, just be careful. We don't know of anyone else around here but Carter was so sure that the UAV was faulty that anything could be out there and we'd never know about it."

Daniel sets out purposefully toward his goal and I follow close behind him with my P-90 at the ready. Soon we reach the base of the first of the smaller pyramids. I radio Carter to let her know we've arrived, she reports that she and Teal'c have made good progress and expect to reach the UAV in about another 90 minutes. I tell her to check in again with us when they get there.

Meanwhile Daniel is busy examining the first pyramid that we reach – the smallest one of the three. He comments on the amount of wear and tear to the stone of both the smaller ones in contrast to the huge one. Even from this distance and to my untrained eye, that much is obvious. It is clear to see that the biggest one is in much better condition than its comrades.

I look up, trying to see the top of the largest structure – thinking about what Daniel said about the possible gold cap. It certainly looks smooth enough to be some sort of metal but it's definitely covered in years of detritus so it's impossible to tell whether it's actually gold or not.

Daniel decides that, until we know better, he's going to call the pyramids after the ones in the complex at Giza. He says it's easier than calling them the smallest, middle sized and largest one and I can sort of see his point! I suppose, as well, it makes him feel more comfortable naming them after a place steeped in happy memories from his childhood.

So Daniel starts his investigations by walking up to the pyramid of Menkaure (the smallest one). He puts his pack down, retrieves his trusty camcorder and starts filming the outside walls. I see that I've lost him to his studies for a while so tell him that I'm going to do a perimeter check round the circumference of the site.

"Don't touch anything while I'm gone, Danny." I request. Chance would be a fine thing but you can't blame an old Colonel for trying, now can you?


	2. Chapter 2

Sticks and Stones - Chapter 2 - by Emma Nisbet (grnfield)

When I complete my circuit of the site I find that Daniel – surprise, surprise – is not where I left him. I look down at the sand and see just one set of footprints – that's good. Now to follow them and track down my errant archaeologist before he goes and does something that I'll regret!

It's sad but I can even tell from his footprints that he's lost to everything else except for his quest for knowledge. I follow the slightly aimless seeming footprints down the side of the Menkaure pyramid, then track them round in a complete circuit of the exterior. They double back slightly to get one side of the second pyramid – Khafre's tomb – then complete a lap of this one too. 'You've got to give it to Danny, he's thorough' I think to myself.

He obviously stopped and sat down here – I can see the imprint of his butt in the sand. At least that means that he's remembering to take a drink from his canteen occasionally, I can't see Daniel sitting down for any other reason while he's in the middle of such an enormous discovery.

Well I still haven't spotted him, but I'm not starting to get worried…yet. The feeling of dread that's been hanging around all morning is still there, only it's lurking in the background of my mind – nothing I can't handle.

I pick up the trail of footprints which head towards Khufu's pyramid – Geez, Danny, it would be easier to just call it 'the big one'. I work my way along one side and round a corner to finally find Daniel. In typical Daniel style he's got some sort of entranceway open and is obviously trying to decide whether to go completely against my orders and go inside. He hasn't spotted me yet and I'm glad to see that he's at least stopped to think that I might do some damage to him if he goes in there on his own, specially without telling me first. It has taken years but finally I think a grain or two of common sense may have finally percolated through into that amazing brain of his.

When he sees me his face lights up with a huge grin. "See, Jack, I haven't got myself in any trouble. I'm still here and in one piece!"

I have to laugh at that – am I that transparent? I do hope not – that wouldn't do my Black Ops reputation any good, now would it?

"Well done, Dannyboy! I assume that you were actually going to call me and tell me to come and see this doorway thing that you seem to have opened here and that you weren't really contemplating sticking your head in there before I got here?"

He looks at me sheepishly. "Of course, Jack, I was just going to radio you – honestly."

I don't believe a word of this of course - this is Daniel we're talking about after all said and done. Daniel in 'hyperexcited explorer mode' to boot. Not a chance he was going to wait for me before trying to explore this dark tunnel of rock that he's uncovered. He's done it before and no doubt he'll do it again – that's just Daniel.

"So Daniel, how sturdy do we think this pyramid is at this point in time?" I ask him, thinking this would be nice to know before we even think about setting foot inside it.

"Well, judging by the outside walls I'd say that it looks in excellent condition" he states. "Although I still don't understand why the Menkaure and Khafre pyramids are in such poor condition in contrast to it."

"Maybe the followers of Khufu stayed around longer to maintain it?" I answer. He looks at me as if amazed that I remembered who the Great Pyramid belonged to. "You see, Danny, I do listen to you" I say jokingly

"Well OK, Jack, you mist have listened to something this morning" he countered swiftly. "Anyway it's not likely that the ancient people of this world would maintain one pyramid in the complex and abandon the others to the elements. No I think there's another explanation here somewhere but I don't know what at the moment."

I don't like the sound of that one bit. I tell Danny to wait a moment while I radio Carter to tell her that we're going to have a look inside the tomb. She tells me that she and Teal'c are not far away from the UAV's location now.

Satisfied that I know the whereabouts of my team I turn back to Daniel and say, "So what are you hanging around here for? Shall we have a look inside? I'll take point, you bring up the rear."

He grins as I flick the light on the front of my P-90 and aim it through the open entranceway. "Jack, there's no-one here. I don't think that doorway has been opened in the last 3,000 years!"

"Hey it doesn't hurt to be careful. Not after some of the things we've seen in our travels – now does it?" I reply.

"No, Jack, I suppose not. Now can we have a look around please?" He's starting to whine now so I guess we'd better get moving.

He flicks on his lantern and follows me in through the doorway.

It's eerie in here, the combination of dust and the soft sand muffling our footsteps.

As we walk down the tunnel Daniel comments that there are no signs of writing anywhere yet, and no pictographs either on any of the walls. There are only the marks from the tools of the workmen – slaves presumably – who cut the huge rocks from the quarry. Later more skilled workers shaped the rocks for the purpose of pyramid construction and these too left their faint chisel marks on the stones.

The tunnel we are walking in corners suddenly, abruptly turning to the right. We turn the corner and realise that this effectively cuts off all the remaining light coming through the doorway that we entered through.

"Great" I mutter, "Daniel, try and get the lantern round in front of me here, I can't see a damn thing."

With a little jiggling around we manage to get his lantern pointing down the tunnel while making it possible for me to keep my P-90 at the ready. We can now get a better look at where we're headed. Not far in front is another turning, to the left this time, and when we round this corner we find that the tunnel widens considerably. Now we can walk side by side, this is much easier!

Once in the larger tunnel the walls start to change. They are much smoother with a more finished surface to them. Another couple of twists and turns later we see the first signs of writing – well pictographs anyway – drawn on the walls.

We stop so Daniel can look at them more closely. I comment that the people in them look much like the stylised Egyptians on many of the artifacts in Daniel's oh-so-very-cluttered office.

He gives me a sly grin and agrees with me. "This is further proof that the ancient people of Earth were taken and deposited in many different places around the galaxy. Many of these pictographs are very similar to ones in the cartouche room on Abydos. The people here must have been displaced from Earth at a similar time to the original Abydonians."

He looks wistful. Thinking of Abydos always brings up too many memories for the young man - some good but some, for obvious reasons, extremely bad. I decide to try and snap him out of it before he goes all melancholy on me. In a hopefully cheery voice I ask him, "So can you tell which snake dropped these people off on this hunk of rock and then apparently left them here unattended?"

"Oh, Jack, it was definitely Ra" he states confidently. "We know he was the main culprit for displacing the ancient peoples of Egypt and these walls agree with that. What makes you think that he just left them here to their own devices?" he asks me.

"Well there ain't much sign of anyone around here now is there? Hardly a thriving, Goa'uld worshipping population of hard done by people" I state, trying to sound like I might know what on Earth I'm talking about.

"No, Jack, but I think that would be more of an indication that maybe he put them here and then came back for them at a later date – to make them fulfil the roll that he took them for in the first place." He explains.

"Hosts you mean?" I ask. "He couldn't have used everybody surely? What about the children and the sick and elderly people?" Actually I'm not sure I want to know the answer to that…

"Well we know that the Goa'uld don't care too much for the humans that they take captive, on Chulak we saw that the more 'undesirable' people were killed when the Goa'uld decided that they could serve not further purpose. It stands to reason that the same would happen here doesn't it? Some of the sick may have been taken as hosts as long as their ailment was something that a symbiote was able to heal. The elderly would only be taken as hosts as a last resort due to their shorter remaining life spans. I'm sure the Goa'uld wouldn't appreciate having to repair and maintain an elderly body only to 'jump ship' again because of the deterioration of old age. We know that they can extend the life of a human greatly but certainly not indefinitely. Also we know how vain the Goa'uld tend to be, an elderly host would be undesirable in this respect too, along with anyone with physical disfigurements."

He pauses to think for a moment. "As for the children – I really don't know. When we saw Ra on his ship on Abydos he was surrounded by children. Maybe he kept them around while they were young – they did make a very effective human shield if you remember?"

I shudder at this and he continues.

"Then when they were mature enough to accept a symbiote they would be taken as hosts themselves. There's something to be said for training them from a young age to serve the Goa'uld for whatever purposes they should see fit."

This brings a grimace to my face; this isn't something I want to be thinking about – ever if possible.

"Daniel, you worry me!" I joked "I swear you can get inside anyone's head and analyse them – even the Goa'uld. Maybe you missed your calling? You need to go back and get another doctorate – in psychology this time – then we could get rid of Mack the Quack once and for all. You'd even get your own office at the Academy hospital as well as at the SGC!"

"No thank you very much, Jack." he laughs, "I like the qualifications that I've already got fine! If I do another degree it certainly won't be in psychology. I've had enough of shrinks in my life without becoming one myself!"

We resume our walking down the tunnel with Daniel stopping every now and then to study something on the walls that catches his eye. There are no new huge revelations although as Daniel said there was no way he could take it all in, in one trip. He'll do his best like usual and I expect at the end of the day he'll be begging for 'Just a little more time, Jack'

Without warning the tunnel ends at the start of a large chamber. After the close confines of the tunnel it's nice not to have to walk so close beside each other. Although the room is big it isn't so large that the light from Daniel's lantern didn't reach the outer walls. We can see two other doorways in addition to the one that we entered by.

Daniel immediately heads for the far wall where something has grabbed his attention. I follow him and can make out that the wall is covered in some sort of writing. Not being my forte, I can't understand a single squiggle of it. "Danny? What's it say? You can read it can't you?" I ask him hopefully.

"Well, Jack, not straight off. It's going to take a bit of working out. This seems to be a combination of Ancient Egyptian, a bit of Goa'uld and something else that I can't put my finger on at this moment." He said, looking somewhat perplexed. He swings his pack from his back and immediately opens it, looking for one of his many reference journals that I know he carries in his pack at all times.

"Okay, Danny, you make yourself comfortable there and I'll check out those other doorways for signs of life…or danger" I tell him.

"Thanks Jack, although I'm sure you won't find any, I'm certain that no people have set foot in this pyramid for thousands of years." He responds, immediately turning his attention back to the sheaf of papers he has precariously balanced on one knee.

"It's not just PEOPLE that I'm worried about, Daniel, you know me better than that." I send back to him.

"Yes, Jack. I know you're just being thorough" he answers fairly, not looking up from his papers.

I go and look through the first doorway using the light on my P-90. Just another tunnel, one of the wider variety. I walk cautiously down the passage until I reach the first corner. I shine my light round the corner only to find that this next tunnel is a long, straight one, so long that my light cannot reach the end of it. I turn back to go and investigate the second doorway from the room that Daniel is translating in.

The second doorway leads to a short narrow tunnel. I walk a little way down it only to find that it's been blocked up at some point – strange – I wonder why someone would do that ? I'll ask Danny when he takes a break from his walls!

Just then I hear my radio spluttering and crackling with static. Carter must be trying to get through – presumably to tell us that they've reached the UAV. The radio seemed to be useless inside the tunnel so I return to the room where I left Daniel to try it again from there.

Before I even reach Daniel, Carter is trying again – this must be something urgent.

I walk up to where Daniel is gently brushing some dirt off a particularly interesting (to him anyway) piece of text on the wall.

"Carter's trying to get hold of us, could you make anything out over the radio?" I ask him.

"No, so you couldn't either? The tunnels must be blocking the signal pretty bad in here." He replies

"I can't see any obvious threats in here, the left hand doorway leads off down a tunnel which turns a corner and then goes on seemingly forever. The right hand one leads to a dead end." I tell him. "Will you be alright here for a little while so I can go outside and find out what on Earth Carter's got in a flap over. I swear if it's just to tell me that she's found the UAV and there's nothing wrong with it I'm gonna skin her alive!"

"That's not very nice, Jack. You know what Sam's like with her gadgets. She'll probably be over the moon if she found that there was nothing wrong with it. You know that's what the Pentagon want to hear as well." He says. He puts on a deep official sounding and adds "We don't want our troops marching all over the galaxy looking for minerals that don't exist, now do we?"

I roll my eyes at him and chuckle. "Very good, Danny!"

"I'll be fine, Jack. This is more or less my childhood playground – if you don't count the weird mixture of writing on the walls. Go and talk to Sam so she can give you some technobabble for a while." He looks at me and smirks at this. "Admit it, you're glad that we're here and she's all the way over there. I bet poor Teal'c's getting a right ear bending!"

"Now, now, don't be mean, Daniel. You know Teal'c doesn't mind" I tease.

"Teal'c puts up with most things without complaint - that doesn't mean he likes it" he retorts.

Just then both our radios kicked in – hissing and spitting again like a pair of wildcats. Still unable to make out a single word from either Carter or Teal'c I look at Daniel, shrug and say, "I'll be back soon, don't touch anything and don't talk to any strange princesses who may want to steal you away from us. You're much too valuable an asset to SG-1 and Earth to lose to some back-of-beyond royal family!"

Daniel just shakes his head at this. "Go, talk to Sam, before she comes all the way over here and makes you listen to the whole 'the UAV is fine' speech. Go – now!" he mock orders.

"Yes sir, on my way sir!" I give him a crisp salute which makes him do an eyebrow lift to rival one of Teal'c's best. I turn away down our original tunnel to the entrance/exit of the pyramid.

I chuckle to myself as I hear Daniel resume his translations – muttering to himself as he tries to fathom out the mystery writing.


	3. Chapter 3

Sticks and Stones - Chapter 3 - by Emma Nisbet (grnfield)

Once outside I key my radio "Carter, this is O'Neill do you read me? Come in Carter."

There's a moments pause before my radio springs to like once more. This time I can make out the somewhat frantic voice of Major Samantha Carter. "Sir I was getting worried. I couldn't raise you on the radio, what happened? Are you alright?" she asks.

"Calm down Carter, we're fine. I told you that Daniel opened a doorway into the largest pyramid and that we were going in for a look around. I guess the rocks blocked your signal. Daniel's still in there – reading the walls - some kind of weird mixed up writing. A combination of Egyptian, Goa'uld and something, as yet, unknown." I tell her, "So did you find your piece of flying scrap?"

"Well that's just it sir – no we didn't. We got to where the UAV was supposed to be – where the sensors said it was – but it's not here. Someone or something has ripped the locator beacon out of it and just left it on the floor. Whether whoever they were realised that it was still transmitting I can't tell but it certainly seems like a statement that they have our equipment and we can't have it back. They haven't just smashed it up, they've taken it away almost like it could have told us something that they don't want us to know. Frankly, sir, it's worrying. Teal'c's trying to find some sign of which way they went with the UAV. I know it's not huge but it's big enough that just one person couldn't pick it up and walk away with it. Even a couple of people would be hindered by it. So far he's come up with nothing though."

I don't like the sound of that, not one bit. "Keep me posted, Carter. I'm going to check on Danny, then I'll come back out and you can let me know if Teal'c has found anything"

The hairs on the back of my neck are prickling now, that feeling of dread is making it's presence felt – big style. In fact it feels like it's trying to pick it's way out through my left eye socket – ow – not good.

#

I hurry back down the tunnel to find Daniel – amazingly – exactly where I left him. Well that's one less thing to worry about anyway.

"Daniel," I say as I walk up behind him, "Someone's stolen Carter's eye-in-the-sky."

He jumps slightly - he obviously didn't hear me coming despite me rushing. I guess that proves that he's totally engrossed in what he's doing.

"What? Stolen? Who? Why would someone do that?" he stammers.

"Beats me, Daniel, but it was someone who understood our technology. They left the locator beacon behind as a little gift for Carter." I tell him. "The rest of the UAV is nowhere to be seen and Teal'c's not having much luck tracking the thieves either."

"Hmm, that's strange, Teal'c usually picks up a trail pretty much straight away. I wonder why today's any different?" he asks, not really expecting a reply.

"I don't know, Danny. Anyway I'm going out again for an update but just wanted to check on you first. Obviously we're not as alone here as we originally thought" I state.

"No, obviously not." He says, "There's no clue to who took it or to where?"

"Not when I came back in here any way. You getting anywhere with the wall?" Come on Danny, I bet you've got the whole story translated by now.

"Jack, this is fascinating, it's much more recent than the writing in the corridor. The Goa'uld I can read pretty well, and the Egyptian too of course. The combination of the two together make for an odd sentence structure though. The third language is baffling me at the moment. I'm going to have to film as much as I can and work on it back in my office with my reference books." He sighs – he never likes leaving a job half done in the field. He's much better than he used to be at admitting that he's not the fountain of all knowledge in every language and that people really don't mind if he has to finish off the translations back at the SGC.

I know he usually gets the basics down while off-world and hopefully he can do the same here.

"So what does it say?" I prompt him, hoping that he may be able to give me some sort of an answer.

He looks at me with frustration on his face. "I just told you, Jack, it isn't making much sense at the moment. There's something here about a 'knowledge of genetics'. Look at this here…" he points at some squiggly line as if it should mean something. "Roughly translated this talks about something called a 'regeneration chamber' but I'm not sure that can be right. There's also some mention down here..." he points at another section of wall, "…that says something about 'our Goddess', but I can't find anything anywhere yet that actually names her. It looks like another Goa'uld took over this complex after Ra left, maybe a minor Goa'uld trying to make themselves look more important than they were due to the grand location? I can't tell yet how long after Ra though."

"Daniel?" I ask him. "What's wrong with a regeneration chamber? Why not? Sounds like a sarc to me."

"Well yes, I thought that." He agrees. "The only 'regeneration chamber' that we've come across would be a sarcophagus. Although I've never seen it described quite like that. A sarc could hardly be called a chamber now could it? A capsule maybe but 'chamber', I can't see it somehow. Maybe I've just got it completely wrong."

"Have faith, Danny. You'll work it out." I tell him confidently. "I wonder what happened to the other Goa'uld 'owner' of this place. You still think that no-one's been here for years?"

"Looking at this, yes I'd say hundreds of years, maybe even a thousand, or more. This is going to take way more time to translate properly anyhow. Did you say you were going to talk to Sam again? If she's not found any sign of the UAV maybe she can give me a hand in here. If it's getting into genetics it's more her field of expertise than mine. If she can explain some of the things that I translate then maybe it will speed me along in filling in the blanks."

I smile at his suggestion and he just says, "What?"

"My two science twins! You make a great team you two. You know I've heard the rumours about you two. I'm pretty certain there's one of the not-so-secret betting circles as to what IQ your children would have if you two were ever to get together. I know you're on the same team but that doesn't stop the rumour mill in that place. Especially with you being a civilian and all – yes it would be frowned upon by those 'higher up' but there wouldn't be half as many problems as there would be for say - two military team members becoming involved."

"No, Jack, just…NO. That is so not going to happen. Sam is like the big sister that I never had, and sometimes maybe a surrogate mother too. Just like you're my 'Dad' at times. I don't know how I'd have made it through my time at the SGC without you all around me. Having you, Sam and Teal'c around has come to be like family. I know it sounds mushy, and probably a little weak but I've come to depend on you all in my everyday life – even outside of the SGC. I look forward to our Pizza, Beer & Movie nights every Friday and you know I love our team nights too."

He stops then and looks at his feet - more than a little embarrassed about this emotional speech.

"Anyway that is neither here nor there. Please ask Sam to come and help me when she gives up searching for the UAV. I'll be here, there's got to be something in my notes that can help me with this third language. It just doesn't make any sense at the moment, it may as well be written in gibberish."

I give him a consoling pat on the shoulder and say, "I'll see what I can do about Carter. I'll be reporting in to Hammond as well so I may be a little while.

"That's OK, Jack, I've got plenty to do here. In fact the rate I'm going you could be a week and I'd still be sitting here with a puzzled look on my face." He shrugs his shoulders in a defeated manner and turns back to the wall.

I shake my head and start off down the tunnel yet again. When I reach the outside I key my radio and contact Carter. "Carter report, has Teal'c found a trail yet?"

"No sir," she replies. "Teal'c's still had no luck tracking the missing UAV although he did find some odd markings on the ground nearby that could have possibly been made by some type of vehicle. We think that the UAV may have been loaded onto this vehicle and transported away like that. Sir, the lack of tracks have lead Teal'c to speculate that the vehicle may be something akin to a hovercraft."

"So what you're saying, Carter, is that someone or something made your UAV literally float out of there?" I ask her.

"Well, yes sir. It does kind of look that way at the moment. I'm sorry sir, I don't know what else to suggest." She sounds a little uncomfortable at this statement.

"Alright, Carter, you and Teal'c start heading over this way." I tell her "Daniel wants you to help him with the translation in the tomb. He's found something on one of the walls that's talking about a genetics and he thinks that if you can understand what he translates that it may speed things up a bit."

"Yes sir, we'll just get our things together and we'll be on our way. Carter out"

"OK, Carter, I'm going to check in with Hammond via the MALP and then head back to the pyramid. When you're nearly there go ahead and try to radio me. Chances are I won't be able to hear you speaking but I should be able to tell that you're trying. I'll come out and get you and take you in to Daniel."

At this moment Teal'c speaks into his radio. "O'Neill, may I make a recommendation?" he asks.

"Sure thing, Big Guy" I say graciously.

"Thank you, O'Neill." He replies. "Once you have conversed with GeneralHammond on the situation with the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, may I recommend that you return with rapidity to the location of DanielJackson. I do not believe that he should be unaccompanied at the present time."

"Do you think we've still got company Teal'c?" I query. "Do you think there still around here somewhere?"

"I believe there is a great likelihood of that being correct, O'Neill." He opined.

Great, now Teal'c's starting to sound worried – that really can't be good. I think about the bad feeling that I've had all day and wonder if a certain Jaffa warrior was maybe experiencing something similar.

"Receiving you loud and clear, Teal'c" I say, hoping that he understands I am taking his warning more than seriously. "I'm heading for the gate now and will be contacting the SGC in a couple of minutes."

#

I walk up to the DHD and dial the gate. As I bend down to activate the MALP, I hear a vaguely metallic sounding thumping noise. I stand up and look around but can't see any obvious signs of a disturbance. Even so that dread feeling has just jumped up another notch and I decide to get my transmission sent to the SGC as soon as possible so I can get back to check on Daniel and his translations.

I turn back to the MALP and activate it. I hear General Hammond's voice and inform him that the 'UAV is now officially MIA'. Needless to say he sounds pretty disturbed by the fact that someone has obviously made off with our equipment. A fact that's made even more annoying by the fact that they've removed it's tracking device as well.

Hammond is talking to me, asking me what our next plan of action is when I hear a large muffled 'thump' followed by a loud 'crack'. I tell the General "Sorry sir, something's some up I'll have to call you back" and cut him off before he gets the chance to question me.

As I spin round searching for the source of the sounds my heart is in my throat. This is the moment that today has been leading up to.

This is 'IT'.

I don't even notice when the wormhole blinks out behind me - the MALP transmission not keeping it open any longer.

A deep rumbling noise starts up at this point and I look towards the pyramid complex where I left Danny. The rumbling is now accompanied by a building vibration and I get the distinct impression that it's coming from the direction of the pyramids.

I get out my binoculars for a better view and as I look over towards the pyramids I am dismayed to see a dusty haze surrounding all three. 'What the heck is going on over there' I say out loud, even though there's no-one around to hear me.

Abandoning the MALP, I start to run towards the tombs. As I get nearer I can clearly see that the dust cloud is originating from within the largest pyramid. Dust and dirt is belching from the doorway that I have been using all day. I look up the face of the pyramid and am dismayed to see that there is also dust escaping from large cracks that have appeared on the surface of the pyramid itself.

In my heart I know it's useless but as I continue to move forward I grab my radio and shout, "Daniel can you hear me, come in Daniel"

Nothing, there's no response from Daniel. Not even a click of acknowledgement on the radio.

However a few seconds later Carter comes on her radio. "Sir, is there a problem? We seem to be experiencing some seismic activity in our area. Can you feel it where you are sir? Have you spoken to the General? Have you made contact with Daniel? I didn't hear him reply to you."

The vibrations in the ground are so violent now that I'm having problems keeping my footing, let alone managing to progress forwards towards the pyramid.

"Carter, yes we have a problem. Yes the ground is moving. It's moving a lot." Maybe I'm shouting louder than it strictly necessary by this point, I'm not sure if this is to make myself heard over the rumbling ground or just the panic that's barely hidden below the surface of my mind.

"I was talking to Hammond when all this started and no, I haven't spoken to Daniel yet. Just get to the MALP, pronto. Put Hammond on alert - we're probably going to need the search and rescue teams when this is over. Get him to get some teams on standby." Please don't question me, Carter, just follow orders – please.

"But sir…" Damn her, I knew she wouldn't be able to leave it at that.

"No buts, Carter – just follow ord…" What I was going to say was cut off as I was shaken to the ground. "Damn it, Carter, just get moving – NOW."

"Yes sir, we're on our way." She replied

Unable to get up due to the vibrations I sat where I'd landed and found myself looking up at the largest pyramid.

The cracks that I'd seen from further away were more vicious than before. Even as I watch they seem to widen and more of the dust billows out. All around are the sounds of stressed stones scraping together.

There is a horrendous creaking noise, louder than all the surrounding noises. I realise, to my horror, that the pyramid is beginning to collapse in on itself. The centre point, with its metal cap, shifts dramatically. As I watch it seems to shudder, then suddenly it plummets downwards into the interior of the pyramid.

Once this happens and the top is no longer holding the structure together the side walls quickly follow it.

I get the briefest glimpses of the walls collapsing into a pile of rubble before I get caught up in the huge expulsion of dust and debris that the falling tomb creates.

As the dust cloud hits me I find that I can't breathe, can't see, can't hear.

As I start to lose consciousness my last thought it that Khufu's tomb has now also become Danny's. There is no way that anyone inside could survive such a total and utter collapse.


	4. Chapter 4

Sticks and Stones - Chapter 4 - by Emma Nisbet (grnfield)

Monday – four days after collapse

I start to become aware of my surroundings very gradually. I feel like I've got a car sitting on my chest and breathing – well that's just no fun at all. I lie there and try to take stock of body. I'm vaguely aware that I've got IVs in both arms and by the slight burning sensation 'down below' I've obviously got a catheter in as well. So I've got fluid going in and fluid going out, that can't be a bad thing – not comfortable but not too bad.

I lie still and listen to my surroundings. I don't feel like I want to wake up completely yet.

I hear the beeping of a heart monitor – who's being monitored I wonder. I guess it might be me, kind of figures with all the other things stuck into me at the moment.

There's a little hustle and bustle but all in all it's pretty quiet. I'm obviously in the infirmary.

What happened to me? Why am I here?

I try to think back and start remember.

P7X-962 - feelings of dread all morning – missing UAV - report to Hammond on the MALP. What the hell was that noise? Danny – got to check on Danny. Dust cloud – from the pyramids - damn. Danny – Danny is in the pyramid. Got to run – got to warn him.

DAMN, I remember

The pyramid – the top came down and the sides caved in. Daniel was under there. He didn't answer his radio because he was still inside. Have they got him out? Is he alive? Is he OK?

No…I know there's no way he could have survived a collapse of that magnitude. Hell - I wasn't even under there and I'm obviously well bashed up.

How long have I been unconscious? Please not long enough that I've missed helping the search and rescue. Not long enough that I've missed the remembrance service or the…funeral.

Sure I know we've done the remembrance service before but that was without concrete proof that he was really gone. This time – the final time – there would be a body. At least what used to be his body - like Claire and Melburn before him there wouldn't be much left to bury. At least this time though he will be able to be laid to rest next to his parents.

I hope Carter's thought to find out where they are buried. Somewhere in New York no doubt. Danny never mentioned where they were – never mentioned going to visit their final resting place. I hope he knew where they were – that would be too sad if their only child was unable to ever visit them.

Carter will be able to find them. Daniel spent so much of his life alone - he deserves to have companionship for the rest of time. Who knows maybe he and his parents will be reunited in the afterlife.

Charlie's buried next to my parents so he's not alone. Maybe Daniel and Charlie can keep each other company. I'd like to think that my two 'kids' are watching out for one another. Hell, I obviously didn't watch out for them well enough – did I? They both gave me their complete trust and I let them both down - I couldn't save either of them.

I know that Daniel could have never replaced Charlie – I wouldn't have wanted him to. He sure wormed his way into my heart though – like the second son that I never had.

I've got to stop thinking like this. It's bringing tears to my eyes. God damn it why do my eyes hurt so much? How come I never noticed it before?

Without thought my eyes fly open and this causes the pain to flare immeasurably.

"Aargh," I yell, "what's going on?" Quickly I clamp my eyes tight back shut again. It doesn't do much for the pain but it makes me feel marginally more in control of my own body.

Two large hands clamp down hard on my arms as I try to sit up. I automatically try to flinch away from my unseen assailant.

"O'Neill, you must be still. DoctorFraiser has been most concerned about your condition." A deep voice close to my ear states.

The person holding me down is obviously Teal'c. He must have been sitting by my bedside in that god damn uncomfy chair waiting for me to wake up. I realise that I am still pulling away from his restraining arms and deliberately try to relax myself slightly so he will let go.

I don't react well to being restrained. It brings back too many memories of my time as a POW in Iraq. I never have quite got over the fear of being of being pinned down in the dark, and that's basically what's happening now.

"Let me go, Teal'c" I say, trying to keep my voice calm.

Teal'c doesn't release any pressure on my arms – maybe he thinks I'll just try and get up again as soon as he does.

"Teal'c, you've got to let go of me…" I know I'm raising my voice but I can't help myself. "Teal'c – NOW." I can't help it but I almost yelp the last word.

I think Teal'c must sense that he's starting to panic me as he lets his grip ease off slightly – not enough for my liking but an improvement none the less.

"O'Neill, I will only cease to restrain you if you give me your word that you will not attempt to move. You have sustained multiple injuries to your body and you will only succeed in aggravating these if you try to sit up."

I try to take a calming breath but this makes my chest spasm and I end up half dazed as a massive coughing fit wracks my body - God that hurts. Mental note to self - that's now two things in the 'not to do at the moment' list – opening eyes and coughing.

Teal'c has the foresight to roll me gently onto my right side to help ease the coughing. This seems to help somewhat and I feel slightly happier as it also means that he doesn't have hold of my right arm any more.

"Teal'c, that's enough. Please help the Colonel lie back down again." That was Dr. Fraiser.

I dare to try and open my eyes slightly to acknowledge her but soon realise that this really isn't a good idea. It feels like I've got half a desert tucked in behind my eyelids.

Janet obviously sees what I'm trying to do. She puts her hand gently on my arm and says, "Colonel, keep your eyes closed for the time being - don't try to open them - I'll irrigate them again shortly. You've got a lot of dirt in there and you'll only make things worse."

I nod slightly say, "Whatever you say Doc."

"Now I've got to ask you the usual questions, you know the routine, Colonel." Fraiser says gently.

I nod again "Yeah, I know Doc, go ahead."

She starts with "What's your full name, rank and date of birth?"

"Colonel Jonathon O'Neill, USAF 66-789-7876-324. Based out of Cheyenne Mountain. Date of birth, October 20th 1952." I answer promptly.

Janet then asks me, "Do you know where you are, Colonel?"

To which I answer, "I'm very obviously in the infirmary, Doc."

"Yes, Colonel you are. Do you remember what happened?" she asks softly.

"Damn it, Janet, I don't want to remember." I snap back at her.

"Colonel, I need to know what you remember. You were unconscious for nearly 24 hours and I've had you sedated for a further 36 to ease the strain on your lungs. I was beginning to wonder if I'd missed something when we got you back here – it's taken you so long to come round from the sedatives." I've obviously been worrying her while I've been out cold.

"The pyramid Doc…" My speech falters and finally stops all together. "…the God damn pyramid…"

"Yes, Colonel, go on" Janet urges.

"God, Janet – you want me to relive it? There was some sort of earthquake. I fell down, couldn't get up. The pyramid – there were cracks appearing all over it and there was dust everywhere. Then the top fell in and the sides followed it. Daniel was still in there, he couldn't hear my warning on the radio. Being crushed to death just like his parents - that was his greatest fear. His most frequent nightmare was of falling rocks in dark confined places. Oh my God, his biggest nightmare came true, Janet. He must have lived his last moments in sheer terror. Oh my God…Janet."

My eyes are starting to water again. No I'm not going to let that happen – it hurt too much last time. Get a grip O'Neill, you've got an audience now. I know I should have guessed that one of my team-mates would be sitting by my bedside, watching my six but honestly it never crossed my mind before Teal'c grabbed me. Not the usual team-mate – that was always Danny's place. Same as it was mine to sit by him when he made one of his – all too frequent – trips to the infirmary.

Oh God, that's something that's never going to happen again. Despite my best efforts I'm starting to lose control of my tear ducts again. What hellish drugs has Janet got me on? Things don't normally affect me like this – when did I turn so weepy? I'm special ops trained for Christ's sake – I don't cry – well not in public anyway. I think Daniel is the only person in the SGC to see me with my defensive barriers down. He's seen me like that a couple of times in fact. Mainly because of Charlie – at Christmas, his birthday, and the anniversary of his death. I still find birthdays and Christmases especially hard – they just serve as reminders to how many I missed when Charlie was alive.

The tears are escaping from the sides of my eyes now and there's absolutely nothing I can do about it. My breath hitches slightly and I hear Janet talking to Teal'c.

"Teal'c, now that the Colonel's awake I suggest that that you go to the commissary, take a break and get something to eat. I'll stay with him for now. It's pretty quiet in here; the nurses can handle the other patients for a while."

I'm glad when Teal'c agrees "I concur, DoctorFraiser. I will consume sustenance and then retire to my quarters to Kel'no'reem. If you should have need of my presence please do not hesitate to convey a message to me."

As he stands up I hear the slight scrape of a chair leg on the floor, then his soft footsteps fade away as he leaves the room.

Next I hear the swish of the curtains as Janet pulls them around my bed and I feel a soft cloth wiping the sides of my face where the tears fell.

"Thanks, Janet." I whisper.

"No problems, Jack." She says softly. It's not often the doctor uses my first name and I appreciate the sentiment. "I guessed you would rather Teal'c not see that. I'm not sure if he realised what was happening but if he did he didn't react. He may just think it's from all the dirt that got into your eyes when the pyramid collapsed. You really must keep them closed for me though. They should really be covered but I knew what you'd think if you regained consciousness and found yourself blindfolded. We cleaned out and irrigated both your eyes several times while you were unconscious but it will need doing a couple more times before they start to feel anything like comfortable again."

"OK, Janet, I'll keep them shut as long as you promise not to bandage them. Deal?" I ask.

"OK deal, Colonel." the doctor agrees.

"So bring me up to speed with what's happening." I ask Janet. "I take it the Search and Rescue teams have gone back to the planet? How are they getting on? How are they going about moving the stones? I mean there is a chance that he's still alive under there…"

"Sir," she says gently. "It's been four days…four very hot days on P7X-962." She's stroking my hair now, just above my ear. I don't think she realises that she's doing it, I think it's a subconscious comfort thing.

"General Hammond has been ordered to scale down the search if they've not found Daniel by the end of the first week. He'll keep sending men though for another week after that but then the Pentagon has demanded that no more resources be used up in what they are calling a 'futile search'. Daniel is officially listed as missing, presumed dead, sir." Janet says this last part in little more than a whisper – she can't believe it either. "He's really gone this time isn't he, sir?"

"I think so, Doc. If he'd stayed where I left him he wouldn't have had time to get down the tunnel and outside once the tremors started. There were too many twists and turns and I couldn't stay on my feet myself – specially towards the end of the quake. No, I'm afraid he wouldn't have stood a chance." My military persona is making it's way to the surface now and I'm talking in a somewhat detached voice. Jack O'Neill's not here any more, the Colonel has come out to protect him. If Jack comes too soon back then he's going to break down and do something stupid. He nearly did it before – when Charlie died.

Ironically what Jack needs, more than anything else in the world, is the one person that he can no longer have. The person who anchored him, the person who grounded him after Charlie, the person who's causing him to go off the rails this time – Daniel. If Daniel hadn't rescued him before then The Colonel would have never managed to get Jack back on track…ever.

"When can I get back there, Doc? If two weeks is all we get then we need all the manpower there that we can get. I need to be there – he's my responsibility." I sigh as I say this before I continue. "Janet, I need my eyes back."

"Colonel, I realise that you want to get back – that you want to help – but as your doctor I'm not going to risk your health unnecessarily." she tells me. "I'll wash your eyes out in a moment but be warned it won't be pleasant now that you're conscious. Also Colonel you have to realise that you're injured as well."

"I kinda guessed that – the SUV sitting on my chest gave me some sort of clue." I comment.

She then proceeds to give me a run down of my status as it stands. "Colonel, you were partially buried under rocks and rubble when SG-2 found you, so much so that they thought that you were probably dead. Your chest obviously took a huge blow and you have severe bruising around your sternum. That's why I've got you on a heart monitor – which I'm sure you've noticed. I'm happy with your rhythm and I'll probably remove the monitor this afternoon. Now that you're awake I can take the catheter out too. You have IVs in both arms at the moment supplying fluids as well as an antibiotic mix. You badly wrenched your right knee - that's going to require physical therapy, and you suffered multiple cuts and abrasions. The dust and dirt coated you pretty comprehensively and you inhaled a fair amount of it too. Luckily you threw your arm over your face as you fell to the ground so you weren't lying directly face down in the sand. The dust particles are extremely fine and I don't think you'd have survived if it weren't for how you ended up lying."


	5. Chapter 5

Sticks and Stones - Chapter 5 - by Emma Nisbet (grnfield)

Thursday – a couple of days later. One week after the collapse.

"OK, Colonel, you're free to leave the infirmary." Janet tells me. "I'm not clearing you for off-world travel for another week though. You'll need to use the stick for longer than that though while you continue the physio on your knee."

"Doc, You know the reason I need to get off-world - we're running out of time to remove the rubble from the site. We've only got another week before Hammond is ordered to abandon P7X-962 completely and resume 'normal operations' around here. Daniel deserves better than that. SG-1 – hell – the whole of the SGC needs closure. How can that happen without a body? Without somewhere that people can go to grieve? You remember how it was when he ascended. No-one knew whether to be sad that he'd gone or happy that he'd gone on to a higher plane of existence. And remember when Nem planted the false memories of Daniel's death in our heads? None of us knew what to think or how to act. Damn it, Janet - I even put a hockey stick through the General's car window. No, this time we know he couldn't have survived and we need to bring his body back for a proper burial."

She puts her hand on my arm and looks at me sympathetically. "Sir, I realise that you need to go but I can't justify the risk to your health by clearing you for gate travel. I promise that the moment I feel you're up to it I will inform both yourself and the General. Keep using the stick and finish the course of antibiotics and that day will come all the sooner. Hopefully we can get you a couple of days on P7X-962 towards the end of the week."

I know that her decision won't be swayed in this. Our 'Little Napoleon' is as stubborn as myself and I know better than to try and argue with her. She might keep me from gate travel for even longer – and with the deadline all too close I can't risk that.

"Ok, Janet, I'll look after myself." I promise her. "I _will_ be cleared for gate travel before the end of next week though." I give her a look that says 'I'm damn well going to be fixed by then or my life won't be worth living.'

"I'm sure you will sir." She says gently as she squeezes my arm. I know she understood me.

"I'm going to see General Hammond to get an update on the SAR teams on the planet." I tell her.

"OK, sir, and please stay off that leg as much as possible." she reminds me.

"I will…and thanks Doc." I use my stick as ordered and tap my way to the elevator.

The doors open and I step inside, only to be greeted by sympathetic looks from the current occupants. I move to lean against the back wall and look at the floor. No-one says anything which is fine by me.

My floor arrives and I walk slowly towards Hammond's office. I knock at the door and heat the General call out, "Come in."

I open the door and enter the office of my commanding officer. On seeing me he stands up, motions to the chair in front of him and says, "Sit down Colonel."

I ease myself into the chair as the General sits back down in his. "How're you doing, son?" he asks as I look over to him. I notice how drawn he's looking – he looks like he hasn't slept in a week. Bear in mind what day we got back from P7X-962 he may well not have done.

"As well as to be expected, sir." I finally answer.

He looks at me closely and says "I hear Dr Fraiser has refused to clear you for gate travel at this time?"

"Yes, General, she's still not happy about the bruising on my chest and doesn't want to risk the gate due to the bruising being close to my heart, sir." I reply.

"I think you had her worried for a while there, Jack. Hell you had us all worried." he tells me. "No-one even knew if you'd got back inside the pyramid before it collapsed. Major Carter got back to the MALP and reactivated the wormhole once the seismic activity had died down. Last thing she knew was that you'd headed back that way before we lost all contact with you. When the SAR teams went through and finally located you under all that debris they were convinced that you were dead."

Hammond stops at this point and looks uncomfortable as he gathers his thoughts. "Son, you need to know that the Pentagon have officially recorded Doctor Jackson as deceased as of 0900 this morning. If we haven't retrieved his body by the end of next Thursday they are cutting off all funding for the SAR team on the planet. I'm sorry, son, but my hands are tied on this one."

He looks down at his desk and I know this is going against what he believes to be right.

"I understand sir. Janet told me something similar while I was still in the infirmary." I tell him.

"I know, son, I asked her to speak to you – to keep you informed as much as possible." The General looks directly at me now and says, "You understand that if I had my way we'd keep a crew there until every last stone was moved?"

I return his gaze, "Yes, sir, I do. However when the Pentagon big-wigs stick their oars in there's not much we can do about it. I take it you've tried contacting the President?"

"Yes, Colonel, I have." he informs me. "Just as soon as they gave me a date that we'd have to leave the planet by. However he also has to keep the financiers onside so he unfortunately had to back down on this one too."

"Damn. I take it Carter and Teal'c are still there?" I ask.

"Yes, Colonel. Major Carter came back through when they brought you back." he tells me. "Once you were delivered to the infirmary she went back to help co-ordinate the deployment of the SAR teams with SG-2 & 6. She's sent word to the Tok'ra but as yet we've not had a reply back from them. Teal'c returned from the planet the next day and stayed by your side until you awoke. Once you were conscious he left to inform Major Carter and hasn't returned to Earth since."

So the Tok'ra are out of things at the moment but they can be difficult to get hold of at the best of times. "What about the Tollan sir? Or Thor?"

"Major Carter managed to make contact with Commander Thor. He was not able to go there himself but sent the nearest ship he had available. Apparently they were only able to ascertain that there were no life signs under the rubble." The General tells me that "Due to some particular minerals in the rock and dust they were not able to pinpoint the remains of Dr. Jackson. Commander Thor requested that Major Carter convey his heartfelt sorrow for the demise of Dr. Jackson."

I nod, acknowledging the Asgard efforts. "Well at least they tried. I take it we didn't hear from the Tollan?"

"No Jack," the General answered gruffly. "They responded alright but were unable to help us at this time."

"Unwilling more like. They really need to get their priorities in order. We're not asking them for weapons of mass destruction of anything like that" I state, "…not this time anyway."

General Hammond looks at me again, his lips pursed into a tight little line. "I know Colonel. We've tried everyone we can think of but unfortunately we've drawn a blank with everyone we've turned to."

"I know, sir, it's just so frustrating. Even more so seeing that I'm stuck here and can't help out in any way." I shrug my shoulders dejectedly and tell him that, "I feel like a spare part at the moment."

"I know, Jack." he says gently. "I want you to go home and rest up for a few days. Janet tells me that you need daily physio on that knee and if everything looks OK then she may allow you to go to P7X-962 when the supplies go through at 1100 on Tuesday morning."

"Thank you sir. I'll be ready." I state firmly.

"I know you will, Jack, I know." Hammond says as he gets to his feet. "Now I'll get a driver to take you home. Dr. Fraiser will call on you later this afternoon. She's offered to do your grocery shopping on the way to you. Unless we hear any news – which I will inform you of, if I hear any – then I want you to stay there until Monday when someone will be along to collect you and bring you back to Dr. Fraiser for a thorough check over. Hopefully she will then give you the go-ahead for Tuesday morning. Your physiotherapist will call at 11.30 tomorrow and both days at the weekend too. Dr. Fraiser has informed me that you'll be using the stick for at least another couple of weeks – just as a precaution."

I grimace as he says this. "Just as long as it doesn't affect my chances of gate travel I'll put up with anything sir. I need to be there before the teams are recalled. It's something I need to do – to see it through to the end."

He's walked around to my side of the desk by this point and pats me on the shoulder. "I know Jack, really I do. Now please, get your things together. The driver will be waiting for you by the checkout station by the time you get there."

I close my eyes and take a deep breath before I stand up. "Thank you sir, and if you hear anything at all…" I leave the rest unsaid, I know that the General understands.

My head knows that I need to be at home to recuperate but my heart says that I should be doing something – I just don't know what. I walk slowly back to the locker room to collect my bag of spare clothes that have been there since last week.

Luckily there's no-one else in the locker room at the moment as I open my locker and drag out the bag. I carefully sling it over my left shoulder while keeping hold of my stick with my right hand.

I close my locker and my eye falls on Daniel's name plate on the locker next to mine. I reach our and run my fingertips gently over his name, remembering the last time I had to clear out this locker – after Daniel ascended. Jonas had taken over the archaeologists locker, job and office not long after that. Not this time, I vow. This locker will be sealed after I empty it this time. No-one will take Daniel's place so completely ever again.

I guess I'll have to empty his house as well. I hope the General doesn't expect that done any time soon. I couldn't face it yet. Sure I'll make sure that anything classified is brought back to the SGC but everything else will have to wait. I'll keep my eye on the house and keep it safe before I feel ready to empty it.

I turn to the door and set off down the corridor with a heavy heart. I enter the, mercifully empty, elevator and leave it again to get into the next one that will take me to the surface. I enter the checkout area and see an airman waiting near a car by the checkpoint. He nods at me as I sign out so I know he's the driver that Hammond has assigned to take me home. He opens the door for me as I approach the car. I thank him quietly, get in the car and allow him to drive me home.

Monday morning – four days later. Eleven days after the collapse.

"Welcome back, Colonel." Janet calls as I walk into the infirmary. "How are you feeling this morning? Jeannie tells me that your knee is responding well to the physio but we'll have to keep that up for a while longer before you are completely mobile again. How are you coping with the stick?"

"So, so, Doc." I reply. "Although I hadn't realised how god damn awkward my house would be to get round with it. I don't normally even have to think about the steps up and down into the various rooms but I've noticed every last one of them in the last few days. I definitely won't miss the stick when I can finally get rid of it."

"Yes, I did wonder about the steps. You've not actually gone over though have you? Fallen I mean?" she asks, worriedly.

"No, don't worry about that. I've come close a couple of times but not actually gone down." I assured her.

"That's good to hear, Jack. Very good." she states.

"Oh, and, Janet," I say. "Thanks again for bringing the groceries the other evening, I can't think how I'd have got them otherwise."

She smiles at me and gives my arm a gentle squeeze. "Not a problem, Colonel, it was the least I could do. I didn't want you to have to leave the house unnecessarily and figured you wouldn't feel up to it anyway. It's good to know you've not been trying to overdo it, and that you've been using the stick no matter even if it made things awkward. Now let's have a look at your chest. That bruise to your sternum area is a beauty."

I give her a disbelieving look and mutter slightly under my breath as I unbutton my shirt. Janet smiles reassuringly at me as she gently palpates my bruise covered chest.

"Any discomfort there, Colonel?" she asks as she fits her stethoscope into her ears and warms the trumpet with her hand before placing it on my chest.

I allow her to listen to my heart before answering. "Nothing too bad, more stiff than anything else."

"Have you been taking the tablets that I sent home with you sir?" she looks me in the eye so she can be sure I'm going to answer her truthfully.

"The antibiotics – regular as clockwork. The anti-inflammatories too. But, I've…er…not taken many of the painkillers…" I admit, "…they make me too fuzzy-headed."

"Colonel!" she says and rolls her eyes in exasperation. "You should have called me, I could have sent over a different prescription if I'd known you were having problems."

I just shrug my shoulders and then realise that it wasn't such a good idea. I try to stop the wince before it can form on my face but obviously fail at this and the doctor spots my attempt.

Janet puts a gentle hand on my arm and says "Don't worry, Colonel, I'll get you some different ones before you leave here. Would you like me to give you a shot that will start acting pretty much straight away?"

I can't believe I'm agreeing to another needle – I've had enough of them in the last week. "Sure thing, Doc. I'm not that comfy from the trip in the car. I think the seat belt aggravated things a bit."

She sighs as she turns away from me and walks over to unlock the drug store. I see her load the syringe and when she returns she simply asks, "Ready?"

When I nod she quickly wipes my bicep with an alcohol scrub and jabs me with the needle to administer the painkiller.

"OK, Colonel, get dressed." she tells me. "I'm not 100 happy with letting you travel but I'm guessing that you're going to find a way to get through the gate whatever I say or do?"

"Er, well yeah, I was kinda thinking that Doc." I hesitantly admit. "You know I've got to go…"

She crosses her arms in front of her and closes her eyes as she collects her thoughts together. "Well, I'll make a deal with you sir." she says. "You stay on the base tonight, that will stop us having the seat-belt problem again. Then in the morning I will accompany you through the gate to P7X-962."

I'm shocked – Janet doesn't usually travel through the gate unless it's a medical emergency, and then, usually, only certain members of her team go through but not her.

Janet obviously works out what I'm thinking as she pats my leg and says, "Don't worry, sir. It's only a precaution. In all good conscience, as your doctor, I couldn't forgive myself if you were to become ill again due to the gate travel. At least if I'm travelling with you I can treat you immediately, should something happen…sir."

I'm dumbfounded. I realise just how much Janet does NOT want me travelling through the gate and I say "You can't possibly know how much I appreciate that, Janet. Far, far more than I could say in words."

"I know what it means to you, sir." she says. "I know what it means that you go and see the rescue attempt...Rescue attempt - I don't suppose we can really call it that any more - but I don't know what else to call it, sir."

"I know what you mean, Janet. There's some lack of finality there somehow, calling it a rescue attempt. It's better than calling it 'body retrieval' although, which I suppose is what it is now after all. I still can't believe they're not going to let us finish the job and bring him home."

"Me too, sir. How can they put a two week limit on something like that?" Janet asks sadly.

"Money, Janet…money and politics." I reply.

Suddenly I realise the real reason that Janet wants to travel with me. She's not seen the devastation caused by the pyramid collapse. She's not seen the attempts being made by the Search and Rescue teams out in the field. The doctor needs some sort of closure and knows that she won't get it if we fail to return to Earth with Daniel's body.

I nod in understanding and reach down to squeeze her hand which is still resting on my leg. She squeezes me back briefly before dropping her head and turning away. As she turns I see the tears in her eyes, I slide off the bed and catch her shoulder. I gently turn her round and enfold her in my arms for a hug. To hell with regulations, to hell with the cameras – we both need this.

#

I don't know how long we stand there like that but eventually I feel Janet try to move away. I release her slowly and she pulls a tissue from the pocket of her lab-coat.

She wipes her eyes and nose before looking up at me. "Thank you, sir…and, sorry." she sniffs and wipes her nose again.

"Me too, Janet, me too." I say. "I'll meet you here in the morning at 1030hrs before we gate out? I believe the supplies are due through the gate at 1100."

"Yes sir," she agrees. "…and thanks again, Jack."

"Any time, Doc. I'll be in my office if you need me." I tell her, as she hands me my stick.

I slowly make my way back to my office. I expect to find a weeks worth of paperwork for me to lose myself in for the rest of the day. I let myself in, sit down and pull out the first of many files that are awaiting my attention.

#

I hear a knock at the door and hear Walter calling to me. "Colonel O'Neill, sir, may I come in?"

"Sure, come in, it's not locked." I call back. I look up from my paperwork and look at my wall clock. I'm surprised to find that it's past 1300hrs.

Walter pushes the door open and backs his way into the room. I wonder what he's doing until he turns around and I see he's carrying a tray from the commissary, complete with coffee, orange juice and two covered plates of food.

"General Hammond asked that I kept my eye on you, Colonel." Walter explained. "He asked that I check you didn't lock yourself in here and not come out for the rest of the day. I figured you needed some time to yourself and guessed that you probably wouldn't want to go to the commissary on your own, sir. I can't imagine that you want to face everyone down there yet so I decided that I'd bring you some lunch. I know that coffee is probably off-limits but I won't tell Doctor Fraiser if you don't. I brought the OJ for you to take your tablets with."

This was all said in rather a rush. I know that, for some reason, I've always made the technicians nervous.

I give him a reassuring smile and say "Thanks, Walter, it's most appreciated. Thank you for the coffee as well, my diet's been severely lacking it in the last week!"

He smiles at this, obviously glad that the sentiment has gone down well. "Well that's OK, sir. I'll leave you to eat your meal. If there's anything else you need please give me a shout."

He leaves the room, quietly pulling the door closed behind himself.

I take a sip of the coffee, lift up the coverings from the plates and allow myself a moment to contemplate the wonder that is Walter. How on Earth does he know what my favourites are? Were they actually both available at the commissary today? It's quite late, I wonder about them still being available at this time. Did he have them specially made up for me?

I sniff the aroma of the fresh lasagne and gaze longingly at the Pumpkin pie – amazing! The smell of the food has awoken my appetite and I tuck in voraciously. I know I've not eaten as much as usual in the last week, the IVs were in for four days and since then I've just not had the stomach for it.

Again I silently thank Walter and steadily clear my tray of, first the lasagne, then the pie. When I've eaten I rummage in the pockets of my trousers and pull out the pill bottles. I get out the correct dosages of antibiotics and anti-inflammatories and down them with the orange juice. Thankfully I don't need the painkillers at the moment thanks to Janet's injection earlier this morning.

I stand up and walk across the room to place the tray on the small table near the door. I then return to my desk and my paperwork.

I sit there for the rest of the afternoon until my bladder starts to object. I find that it's 17:35 and decide to call it a night. I close up my office and head for my personal quarters. I think I'll get some food a bit later on when more people have left for the night.


	6. Chapter 6

Sticks and Stones - Chapter 6 - by Emma Nisbet (grnfield)

Tuesday – the next day. 12 days after the collapse.

The next morning I wake up in my quarters and take stock of my various aches and pains. My knee feels alright this morning, but of course I haven't actually tried to get up yet so that may change. My chest is a little stiff but nothing that I can't handle. All in all I reckon that I should be OK for my trip through the gate this morning, with Janet as my chaperone.

I swing my legs over the side of the bed and carefully pull myself upright. Hmm, my knee tells me that it still wants the support that it gets from the stick. Janet told me that I would need it for a fair while yet though and that under no circumstances was I going to step through the gate today without it.

I grab hold of the stick and go to use the bathroom. First I wash, shave and then get dressed. I'm glad I thought to get a set of BDUs delivered to my quarters the day before. I put them on now to save having to get changed again before we travel.

I look at the clock and find that it's way before I need to go and meet Janet. I can't just stay in here though so I'm going to see if the diminutive doctor has had breakfast yet. If I'm going to gate out to P7X-962, stick and all, then the commissary isn't going to beat me this morning - just as long as I'm not on my own. Everyone knows that I always eat breakfast with at least one of my team - well they're not available today so Janet will have to do as a replacement. Stick in hand I head off to the infirmary to find her.

I walk into the infirmary and think that it's surprisingly quiet in here. Truthfully I know that General Hammond has scaled down the off-world missions somewhat while Daniel's 'rescue attempt' is going on. I'm also aware that he won't get away with it much longer as the two week deadline is almost up.

Once the deadline is reached all the personnel will be recalled from P7X-962 and it's been arranged that the USAF will record that Doctor Daniel Jackson was KIA/BNR Category 5 (Killed in Action/Body not Recovered). I think Hammond had a part to play in that, Daniel was a civilian and not military after all said and done.

"Colonel, you're early." says Janet, walking over to me. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Breakfast." I state confidently. I look hopefully at her as I continue. "You and me have a date with the best that the commissary has to offer."

"OK, Colonel, I think I can take you up on that offer." she said. "I've been here since 05:00 so I had my breakfast oh-so-long ago. Have you taken your meds yet this morning sir?"

"No, Doc, I thought I'd get some food inside me first." I tell her. "I'm not feeling all that bad this morning…best I've felt first thing in the morning all week in fact."

"Hmm, well don't get too confident. It's still early days yet." she tells me.

"Don't you worry, Janet, I'm gonna take them." I assure her. "Don't want anything to jeopardise our trip through the gate, now do we?"

Janet nods her head and smiles. "I think that's a sound plan, Colonel. Now enough with the talking, let's get going. I've still got to get changed before I'm ready to go off-world. I see that you came clothed ready to go. Good idea."

We walk slowly down to the commissary and Janet grabs a tray before I get the chance. "Oh no you don't - not with the stick Colonel. We don't want any accidents this morning." she said with a stern look on her face.

"OK." I concede. I'm not here to argue and I agree with her that the trays can be a menace one handed.

Janet puts two plates on the tray and starts to pile a bit of everything onto one of them. She looks at me questioningly and I say, "Sure go ahead. Pick some for me as well, I'm not fussy!"

She smiles at this and adds a bit of everything to the second plate as well. I notice that my portions are quite considerably larger than hers but that hers are far bigger than any I'd ever seen Carter serve up for herself. I smirk slightly as I realise this. Janet obviously notices because she looks at me and asks, "What?"

"Oh, nothing. Just thinking about Carter." I reply.

"Hmm." Janet gives me a strange look and a knowing smile. "I see."

Wait a minute, that's not what I meant – I guess that's how it sounded though. Aw hell! "I…er…oh never mind." I splutter and I head off to select us a table.

"Colonel, what do you want to drink?" Janet calls after me.

"Oh" I call back. "…coffee please, strong and black." I see her roll her eyes at that but don't bother to comment.

Janet comes over to sit down, bringing the loaded tray with her. I see that I do indeed have coffee although it's definitely not back and there's no way on Earth I would ever call it strong. Janet sees me looking at it grimly and smiles. "Be thankful you've got it at all, Colonel. You're still on you're meds and still under my care remember. And…by the way…that's got real milk in it, not the usual creamer. It's a healthier option…and it tastes better too of course!"

I smile back, "Once a Doc, always a Doc – eh Doc!!"

"Yes, Colonel, something like that!" she chuckles. "Some habits can't be broken easily."

The commissary is pretty quiet for breakfast time and I'm glad about that. We eat our breakfast in companionable silence and I'm amazed at how much food the petite Doctor Fraiser manages to put away. Does the woman have hollow legs?

I finish with my meal and get out my meds. I put the pain killers back in my pocket unopened but Janet puts her hand on my arm and says "No, Jack, I want you to take a couple of those as well, even if you don't feel you need them at the moment. Gate travel's going to be hard enough on you today as it is, and I don't want to complicate things by adding any extra aches and pains into the mix."

I think about this and I can see that it makes sense. I reach back into my pocket and pull out the remaining bottle. I add the tablets to the three already on my tray and put all the bottles back in my pocket so I've got them with me when we travel.

I pick up my coffee, intending to wash the tablets down with it when Janet stops me. "Colonel, you should know better than that. I'm not going to sit here and watch you take your tablets with coffee. Let me get you a glass of orange juice." She gets up and is back with the orange juice before I have time to object.

I grin at her and down the last of my coffee before she can take it away. Then I take all my tablets with the orange juice like a good little Colonel.

"I've got to see the General before we go, Doc." I tell her. "I'm going up there now."

"That's alright, Colonel. I can get changed and ready while you're in with him. I'll meet you in the gate room when you've finished." she suggests.

"OK, I'll see you later, Doc." I say and we both leave the commissary and go our separate ways.

#

I knock on the door of General Hammond's office and wait for his call before going in. He tells me to sit down and asks me how I'm feeling. He tells me that he's spoken to Janet and that he's authorised her to go with me this morning. He admits that he wasn't 100 certain about allowing me through the gate but Janet's suggestion that she travelled with me was a solution that he would go along with. Hammond understands, he understands what it's like to lose men under your command and he understands why I must go back at all costs.

He brings me up to date on everything that's been happening on P7X-962 since I spoke to him on Thursday. Obviously I know from Janet (and the fact that the General didn't call me over the weekend) that nothing major has happened. But I need to know as much as possible before I go to the planet and see it for myself.

Apparently the work on the collapsed pyramid has been extremely slow going. Carter has arranged for a trebuchet to be constructed over the site for the removal of the larger stones. But without heavy duty, mechanical equipment – earth movers and the like – the progress has been painfully slow.

Carter's message finally got through to the Tok'ra and they sent a Ha'tak that was nearby. Carter had been working with them trying to modify the ring transporter in some way. The General told me this had to be abandoned though when the rocks they were testing it on were vaporised and the dust particles were spread all over the test site at near supersonic speed. Luckily the testing area was well out of the way of the pyramid complex and no-one was hurt.

Apparently the rings just aren't accurate enough without the ring platform underneath for them to lock on to. Fiddle with them, and then try to make them transport/dig through an indeterminate amount of rock, dirt and sand and they turn out to be completely unpredictable. They'd make quite an effective drill, I suppose, if you want to completely destroy anything in their path. This would completely defeat the object in this case though seeing as they would also vaporise Daniel without us even realising that we'd found him.

Thor – bless his little cloned heart – sent another ship to try and help locate Daniel. Whatever was in the rocks that messed up their sensors the first time round was tough stuff. The Asgard found that their modified scanners could penetrate a little farther through the rubble than before but they still couldn't find a body.

The General then stands up and I copy. He looks at me kindly and says "OK, Colonel, you can go now. I imagine that Doctor Fraiser will be waiting for you and the supplies will be leaving shortly. I wish that I could ask you to 'bring our boy home' but it pains me to know that is not going to happen this time. Please report back to me on your return, Jack."

I give him a nod and say "Thank you, sir, I will."

I then leave his office and head for the gate room, Janet, the supplies and the wormhole through to P7X-962.

#

Notes:

KIA/BNR (Killed in Action/Body not Recovered)

Category 5, Category unrelated to degree of enemy knowledge.

An individuals whose remains have been determined to be non-recoverable as outlined in Department of the Army Technical Manual 10-286, January 1964, section 39.

#

Janet, the supplies, myself and two marines are standing in the gate room awaiting final checks before the gate is dialled. The marines are here to escort the FRE, loaded with provisions and medical supplies, for use by the crew on P7X-962.

I am there to find the fate that befell my missing team-mate and best friend. Janet, well she's there to escort me through the gate and to get some closure on Daniel's final disappearance.

I'm nervous about what we're going to find when we get there so I dread to think what's going through Janet's mind at the moment. She's not all that used to gate travel – only usually going in a medical emergency where the adrenalin probably does away with her nerves. This time it's calm, there's no rushing, no hustle and bustle - just 'business as usual' in a strange way.

The thing is 'business' will never be 'as usual' again. I've had a quarter of my team ripped away from me – again. It's not like it's the first time it's happened but there's some sort of finality over it this time. When Nem planted the false memories in our minds we always had a nagging doubt that Daniel wasn't really dead. On Apophis's ship, we didn't have time to mourn his passing. By the time we got back to Earth and the adrenalin started wearing off we were all reunited again.

When Daniel ascended - after Kelowna – we knew that he was still around, just in a different form. The little flurries of air in the corridors at first, then came the occasional visits, when we were most in need. When we got him back properly – after his memories returned – we were whole again.

Now though, the team would forever have a chink missing from its armour – a chink the size of the Grand Canyon, if you ask my opinion.

Even when General Hammond gets us a fourth member, the gaping whole will still be there. Jonas may have taken Daniel's place the last time we lost him but he never really filed Daniel's shoes. Poor guy, I don't suppose we really gave him much of a chance to. He knew he was the outsider – the fourth member although not really part of the team. I have to hand it to him though, he never once complained about it – feeling guilty, no doubt, about his part in Daniel's untimely demise.

"Colonel O'Neill, Dr. Fraiser and the supply crew," General Hammond's voice booms over the intercom, "You have a go for gate travel."

The gate starts spinning and the chevrons start to engage.

I look up at the General – he gives me a gentle smile and closes his eyes momentarily as he nods his head in my direction. "God speed, Colonel…Look after him Dr. Fraiser." he adds, looking at the doctor.

"I will sir, I will," Janet promises as I turn away to watch the final chevron lock into place.

"Chevron Seven, Locked," Walter announces over the PA system.

I suck in a deep breath as the kawoosh shoots out from the gate and Janet moves up to stand close by my side. I look down at her and ask, "You OK?"

She looks back at me and replies, "I will be Colonel, don't you worry about me, Sir." She slips her hand into my free one and I give it a quick squeeze before turning my attention to the marines who are moving the FRED up the ramp and through the open wormhole. They follow it through and then it's our turn.

Keeping hold of Janet's hand I walk slowly up to the event horizon. I stop, turn to Janet and check with her, "You ready for this?"

She gives me a tight lipped smile, grips my hand even tighter and says, "As ready as I'll ever be, Colonel. Let's get this done."

With that we step through the gate together, still hand in hand – for moral support.


	7. Chapter 7

Sticks and Stones - Chapter 7 - by Emma Nisbet

The moment we emerge form the other end of the wormhole and step out onto P7X-962 I feel like I can't breathe - my chest is burning. I lean heavily on both my stick and Janet to stay upright as my knee gives way from under me.

Janet staggers a little as I stumble and calls out for help. Suddenly I feel my shoulders grabbed by one of the marines who were controlling the FRED until a few moments before. He helps me off the gate platform and, between him and Janet they sit me on one of the stone steps.

"Colonel, I knew this was a bad idea," Janet tells me as she holds my wrist, taking my pulse.

"Yeah, Janet." I gasp, "Just give me a minute to catch my breath." My voice, I'm dismayed to find, comes out just as raspy as my breathing.

"Slowly Colonel. Breathe slowly. In…Out…In…Out…That's it, keep it slow, don't gasp." Janet says soothingly.

I try to calm my frantic intakes of breath and after a couple of tense minutes start to feel a lot more human again.

"Sorry Doc, and thanks," I say, in much more my usual voice. "I know you warned me, but I never imagined it would be like that. I've been through the gate so many time before I guess I forgot what it actually does to the body."

"Yes, Colonel," she looks at me sternly, "…and you never listen to doctors orders, now do you?"

"I've said I'm sorry, Doc. Don't go all guilt-trippy on me now, please." I'm almost whining now – that's got to stop!

"Well, how about getting you up again? Do you think you can manage that?" she asks me gently, concern evident on her face.

"I reckon I'm up for that," I answer, "I might need a hand to actually get up though."

"Hey, Lieutenant Bowman," Janet shouts to the marine, who is standing not far from that bottom of the steps. I appreciate that he moved away to give me a modicum of privacy while Janet was looking after me, but thought to stay within earshot in case he was needed again.

He moves over to Janet as she hails him, she then directs him to my free arm as she takes my stick in one hand and my arm in the other. "On three, Colonel." she instructs and counts, "One, two, three."

Carefully Lieutenant Bowman and Janet raise me to a standing position and Janet hands me my stick. Bowman keeps a grip on my arm until I've got my balance, then tentatively moves aside without saying a word.

"Whoa, head-rush" I manage to say, "Remind me not to do that again, anytime soon."

"How are you feeling now, Colonel?" Janet asks me, "Are you in any pain?"

"My knee's letting me know it's still not anything like back to normal, but my chest's not too bad now. Nothing I can't handle, anyway." I answer, "Thanks again, Janet."

I wonder if I'm succeeding in looking guilty – that's what I'm intending anyway. It obviously works as Janet gives me a sympathetic look, moves over to my stickless arm and slips her arm through mine.

I raise my eyebrows at her. "Just for a little extra support, Colonel," she explains.

"OK, Doc. If you say so." I resign myself to being molly-coddled for the foreseeable future.

"Shall we?" I say, gesturing in the direction of the pyramid complex, with my stick.

"Lead on, Colonel. Lead on," she tells me and we start to walk slowly towards the ruins.

#

As we approach the ruined pyramid, I can't help but hear Janet's sudden inhalation of breath, followed by a soft "Oh my," as she looks towards the scene of devastation. I follow her gaze and utter a quiet curse myself.

There's no proper structure left as such. Just a few small sections of outer wall survive at the corners. The rest is literally just rubble and dist.

Carter's trebuchet is still in place over the main structure/pile of rubble and there's a large pile of stone over to one side that have obviously been moved from the ruined pyramid.

What I wasn't expecting was just how much there would be left that hadn't been touched. Hammond had told me that progress had been slow, but I hadn't realised just what that would really mean. Not until I saw what a mammoth task it was to basically remove every stone in the pyramid, until our goal – Daniel – was reached.

I could plainly see why the General had told me that there was no way we were going to be able to retrieve the body in just two weeks. Looking at the rate of progress, a couple of months may have made a decent impact – but a couple of weeks…not a chance.

"O'Neill," Teal'c rumbles as he moves towards us, with Major Carter at his side. "I am glad to see that you are well again." He's covered in dirt and grime and looks in need of a few hours of Kel'no'reem to recuperate from what has obviously been a labour-intensive week.

"Thanks, Teal'c. I haven't come alone, I was accompanied by the good doctor here." I say, patting Janet's arm and smiling down to her.

"Yes, Teal'c, he has. There's no way I'd have agreed to let him travel otherwise." she tells him, looking at me with a scolding expression on her face. "…and were my fears justified, Colonel?"

"Er, well…I guess so." I admit, "So anyway, Carter – looks like there's a long way to go here?" I ask, changing the subject away from myself.

"Sure is, sir," she says, looking despondent. "There's no way we can make much of an impact on the rubble in just two more days. The pyramids took hundred of slave, decades to build. What we're supposed to do in two weeks, with just a handful of SG teams, and no heavy lifting equipment…I really don't know, sir…"

I hear the hitch in her voice as she turns away. "Carter," I start to say, but she lifts her hand to silence me.

"Don't, sir. Just…just give me a minute," she says quietly.

She moves further away from us. I know she thinks that crying is a sign of weakness - due to her military upbringing - so I let her go. I don't comment but motion to Janet to follow her.

As Janet lets go of my arm, Teal'c moves to my side to replace her. I give him a grateful look, lean heavily on my stick and start to move nearer to the pyramid to speak to the other members of the SAR teams.

About twenty minutes later, Janet and Carter return. Sam looking decidedly worse for wear due to her crying episode. She looks at me, slightly embarrassed and says, "I'm so sorry, sir. I never meant for you to see me like that. It…it just hit me, suddenly…the enormity of what we've been trying to achieve here…"

She breaks off and I pat her arm. "Don't worry, Major. I'm sure most of us have felt that in the last couple of weeks. You've been here the whole time, haven't you?" I ask.

"Pretty much, sir, yes. After we…er…delivered you back to the SGC, I came straight back here. Dad's been here, with a ship…and the Asgard too," she adds.

"Don't worry, Carter." I tell her, "The General's filled me in on what's been going on. Now when was the last time you ate?"

"Breakfast, sir," she replies.

"Hours ago then, Major. I want you and Teal'c to take a break. Come and sit with Janet and myself and you can tell us everything in greater detail." I urge her.

We move off to the area where the tents are set up. Someone (Teal'c, I assume) has already erected one for Janet and myself, near to the one that Carter & Teal'c are sharing. I look wistfully at the arrangement. Carter and Teal'c always share, as do Danny and I. The only time that the arrangements have been any different was when Jonas was on the team after Daniel ascended. Teal'c shared with me, and Jonas with Carter. I didn't query it at the time – I know I didn't make Quinn particularly welcome in the team at first. Maybe he was just too nervous to share with me – or maybe Teal'c just thought that he needed to keep a closer eye on me during that time.

Once Daniel rejoined the team, and Jonas went back to Kelowna, Danny automatically went back to sharing with me and Teal'c returned to his rightful place without comment.

I see Carter and Teal'c watching me and notice a look pass between the two of them. I have a feeling that I've missed an entire conversation in the space of the last twenty seconds when I know a single word hasn't been spoken out loud. I shake my head and turn to the packs to get out the MREs and pull out the stove to make some coffee. While the water is heating, Carter starts telling me about the Asgard sensor problems, the modifications to the ring transporter and the manual work that the SG teams have put in while I've been out of action.

Once the food is ready the conversation peters out and we eat and drink quietly – each lost in out own thoughts.

After the meal, Teal'c returns to the site to haul more rocks, while Carter takes Janet and myself to the ring-transporter-come-drill test site.

I must say that thing was damned impressive in a totally destructive way. I wonder why the Goa'uld have never thought to use it as a weapon against the populace of any planet. They could cause mass extinctions if they so felt like by aiming it at fault lines in the planets crust.

The thought makes me shudder and I get a worried look from Janet. I assure her that it's nothing medical and make a note never to tell either her, nor Carter, about what I was thinking.

When the dusk starts to fall we move back to the tented area to eat our evening meal. We're all staying until Thursday, when everyone will have to leave. Janet told me earlier that she wanted me to recover sufficiently from the gate trip here before attempting to make another one, so that worked out alright in respect that I would have all day Wednesday to recuperate.

When the meal is cleared away we talk for a little longer before moving to bed down for the night. Somehow, I'm not surprised to find that Teal'c is in with me and the two women are sharing the other tent. I guess now I know what that silent conversation was about earlier. I can't help but be comforted by their concern for me, but think it's slightly creepy - they were remembering the same memories as I was at the same time.

I notice that Teal'c has settled, cross-legged, on his sleeping bag. He looks like he's going to Kel'no'reem for a while before actually turning in to sleep. I carefully get into my sleeping bag and bid him 'goodnight' before rolling over and falling asleep pretty much straight away. I guess the day must have taken a lot more out of me than I had realised before.


	8. Chapter 8

Sticks and Stones - Chapter 8 - by Emma Nisbet

Wednesday – 13 days after collapse – last day on P7X-962.

The next day, Janet and I wander around the site, talking to the various members of the SGC. I answer their various queries as to what's been happening back on Earth while they have been posted here. They are all too aware that today if their last full day on that planet and none of them are even vaguely optimistic that Daniel's body will be recovered before we have to leave tomorrow.

The day passes uneventfully and I find myself sharing my tent with Teal'c again for the last night on the planet

Thursday – two weeks after collapse – return to the SGC.

There is an oppressive atmosphere in the camp this morning. After breakfast we fire up the gate and speak to the General. He informs us that our return has been scheduled for 1400 hrs and that all the equipment must be returned to the SGC at the same time we are.

It has been decided that the address will not be locked out of the gate computer but no return trip will be authorised. There is nothing of benefit to Earth on this god-forsaken lump of rock and it will be retained on record as the last resting place of Doctor Daniel Jackson.

I find it comforting that Daniel's 'grave site' will be left in peace. That it won't be subjected to soldiers or scientists crawling all over it. Hell we've done enough of that in the last couple of weeks and where'd that get us? True, I'd rather have taken his body back to Earth and given him a traditional burial, but unfortunately that is not to be.

I relay the message to the SG crews working on the site and it's decided that the excavations would be ceased from that moment on. There's a lot of stuff to pack up, tents to take down…goodbyes to be said.

#

Not long before 1400, all the equipment is packed, the FREDs are loaded and the signs of our two week habitation are minimal. The gate is dialled and most of the SG team members are waiting, ready to travel back to the SGC with glum expressions on their faces.

Just Carter, Teal'c and Doctor Fraiser are to remain on the planet with me. The two women are very teary eyed and are standing together near to the ruined pyramid. Teal'c is standing with me near the gate as the last of the SG personnel pass through. The wormhole collapses in on itself when it is no longer being used.

Only a brief few moments later the gate begins to spin again. General Hammond is coming to pay his respects to Daniel's final resting place. He has only travelled via the gate a couple of times, officially he is supposed to remain Earthbound at all times. With the President's approval he's making an exception for the young man who he thought of as the son he never had.

The wormhole is established and the kawoosh blooms out of the gate. Once the event horizon settles, the familiar bulk of our commanding officer emerges. Teal'c and I stand to attention as he walks down the steps and onto the dry soil of this dusty planet.

"Colonel, Teal'c," he acknowledges, "At ease, people. All the rescue crews are back and accounted for, no injuries to report, I'm glad to hear. Where is the Major, Colonel?"

"Major Carter and Dr. Fraiser are over by the pyramid, sir. Saying goodbye to Daniel." I reply. I find I can't keep my eyes on his and look at the floor.

"Understandable, Jack," says the General, putting a hand on my shoulder and squeezing gently, "Shall we go and join them?"

"Yes, sir," I agree, "…but before we do there's something I'd like to discuss with you. Something that I couldn't discuss over the radio link. Teal'c, you go ahead. Can you tell Carter and the Doc. that the General has arrived. We'll be there shortly."

"Indeed I will, O'Neill. If you need my assistance, please do not hesitate to call me." Teal'c answered, with a small bow of his head.

I outline my idea to the General. Obviously because there's no physical body to take back to Earth to bury, there will be no gravesite for people to mourn Daniel's passing. Nowhere that they can sit and 'talk' to Daniel when they need to feel close to him. My suggestion to the General is that he send one last small team through, after we return, to gather one of the large rocks from the pyramid. This could then be engraved with a fitting memorial to our fallen comrade and be situated either in the Colorado Springs cemetery or possibly somewhere peaceful on the mountain above NORAD. We've all escaped up there before now, when things have got rough under the mountain. There's a tranquil atmosphere up there and if you walk a little way you leave behind all signs of civilisation, you can really be at one with yourself and leave your work behind for a short time.

Straight off he seems agreeable to the idea. He explains that he will have to get permission from the Pentagon for the location of the stone but can't see a problem with the idea in principle. I think between the two of us we have pretty much decided that we would want it located on the mountain. If it's set a little way back in the woods then the it's unlikely that anyone not related to the project (with the exception of NORAD personnel) will stumble across it. The SGC are Daniel's only family now, have been for a long time. It's only fitting that he is commemorated near to where the people who care about him the most are located.

With the decision made, as much as possible, between us, we start to walk in the direction of the doctor and the two remaining members of SG-1. We spend more than a few minutes in complete silence, each saying our own personal goodbyes to the youngest member of our team.

After a while the General clears his throat and announces that it's time that we were all leaving. Janet and Carter cling to one another, both in floods of tears and I realise that my cheeks are wet too. Another good reason for doing this personal little parting ceremony with just the five of us here is that Carter wouldn't let herself go like that back on Earth, where people could see her. I'm not sure Janet would have either, for that matter. I know I damn well wouldn't. Here, with just our team and the closest two members of the SGC, I think we've all felt that we could say goodbye like we really needed to. Sure, there will be a memorial service back at the SGC in a few days time, that will be much more of an official, military affair though. This, well this was more like a small ceremony for immediate family.

We wait a few moments for Carter and the Doc. to compose themselves and I surreptitiously wipe my face with my handkerchief. I know the General saw, but I also know that he won't comment. I'm not sure his eyes aren't holding more moisture than normal anyway.

Then the five of us turn away from the pyramid and return to leave P7X-962 for the last time.

Goodbye Daniel, my friend…my best friend. You will never be forgotten.


	9. Chapter 9

Sticks and Stones - Chapter 9 - by Emma Nisbet (grnfield)

It was decided that Daniel's memorial stone would be placed up on the mountain. It was generally agreed that Daniel had spent so much of his time at the base that it was a fitting place to commemorate the young genius. The archaeologist had no real ties to the Colorado Springs area other than Cheyenne Mountain and there would be fewer questions asked about the large stone sitting in a clearing in the woods, than there would have been in the Colorado Springs cemetery.

When the stone that Jack had arranged to be transported from 'Daniel's pyramid' arrived it was passed to Siler and a couple of his team. Between them they worked the stone and inscribed it with a fitting epitaph.

You touched the hearts and souls of all you met, gaining honour and respect along the way.

When it was completed the stone was positioned to sit for all time high up on the mountain looking out over the panorama of Colorado Springs.

A memorial service was held in the gate room, much like the on held for Daniel so many years before, however this time the wreath was not sent through the gate. It was taken by the three remaining members of SG-1 and placed next to the stone.

#

General Hammond put Jack, Sam and Teal'c on stand-down for another two weeks. Upon Dr. Fraiser's advisement he requested that the two human team-mates attend grief counselling sessions. These would be compulsory before either member would be allowed to return to active duty.

The General granted Teal'c's request to travel to the Land of Light to visit Ry'ac. George was relieved to find that Ishta would also be there to meet Teal'c and was convinced that between the two of them, Ry'ac and Ishta would help Teal'c through the grieving process. The Jaffa warrior agreed to return when the fourteen day stand-down period expired.

#

As Jack expected, he was once again given the thankless task of clearing Daniel's personal possessions from his locker and office. General Hammond also reminded Jack that as he was listed as Daniel's next of kin the Colonel would also be required to make arrangements for Daniel's house as he had done before. Jack grimaced at this and told his commanding officer that he would need more time before he tackled that job. He promised however, to go to the house and return any SGC documentation to the base and that he would also get Daniel's personal computer and laptop to Sam Carter for safe keeping. He told the General that he would then lock up the house and keep an eye on it until he was more prepared to tackle the mammoth task of packing away Daniel's life once again.

#

Teal'c returned to the SGC after twelve days off-world. Janet Fraiser checked him over in the infirmary and declared that he was as fit as ever. Teal'c admitted that he had spent a great deal of time in Kel'no'reem while he had been away. Ishta had been distressed when she heard of the loss of the "gentle Tau'ri warrior" and they had spent a lot of time either meditating quietly together, or talking, with Teal'c telling many stories of Daniel's great courage.

#

The fourteen day deadline came and went.

The grief counsellor agreed to clear Sam for gate travel but told the General, in no uncertain terms, that he would not be clearing Jack.

Jack O'Neill was withdrawing from them all – carefully building back those impenetrable barriers that only Daniel had ever managed to break down, several times before.

The General was afraid that as well as retreating further into himself, his 2IC was probably also retreating rather a long way into a whiskey bottle most evenings. Seeing as Jack was spending virtually no time at the mountain, there was no way for Hammond to verify his assumption. Unless Jack turned up at the mountain drunk then there was nothing that the General could do about it either.

The one piece of good news that Janet Fraiser could report about Jack was that his self-imposed semi-exile in his house had allowed his much battered body the recuperation time that it needed to repair itself.

#

By the end of the third week Janet reported to General Hammond that Jack was no longer using the stick and that physically he was at a stage where she could clear him for gate travel. She sighed heavily when she told the General that, mentally however, Jack was a whole different story.

The inability of Jack to lead his team meant that Hammond would have to make a difficult decision of what to do with Sam and Teal'c. He couldn't formulate a good enough reason to justify to the bookkeepers keeping them earthbound when they were fit and healthy.

Hammond made a conscious decision not to split the two team-mates up. The dynamics of SG-1 were such that the colleagues backed each other up like family, no matter what personal risk to themselves. The General was not going to break this support system further by splitting up the two remaining team members.

Looking through the various team dynamics spread throughout the SGC, Hammond remembered that Major Charles Donnelly from SG-2 had requested to be transferred to an earthbound position. The young man had recently married Charlene, one of the infirmary nurses, and she was afraid of her new husband getting injured in the field. Lou Ferretti had requested that Charles stay active on his team for a little longer while they arranged for a replacement team member.

'Yes,' thought the General. 'This will solve both problems.'

He summoned Lou Ferretti and proposed that he temporarily turn SG-2 into a five man team. Major Donnelly could be reassigned elsewhere in the SGC as he had previously requested, and Samantha Carter and Teal'c would become SG-2 team members until such time that SG-1 was in a state to be reformed.

Ferretti had no objections to running a five man team although he was more than a little upset that Jack had – for the moment – lost his command. Any of the other teams would have been more than happy to take in the two lost souls from SG-1 and Ferretti promised to 'look after' them well, so the arrangements were made.


	10. Chapter 10

Sticks and Stones - Chapter 10 - by Emma Nisbet (grnfield)

The 27th day of Jack's stand-down period was Sam and Teal'c's first trip through the gate with SG-2. It was a simple mission to revisit the natives on P2C-387. They were taking replenishments of medical supplies and an enhanced Naquadah generator that Sam had developed a couple of months before.

The General had carefully selected this mission as an easy one to break Sam and Teal'c back in gently. Ferretti didn't mind and said that he was just grateful for an easy mission for a change. The General grimaced when Lou said this and told the younger man that he'd better not have jinxed the mission by saying so.

#

As he stood in the control room, waiting for the gate to finish dialling, George became aware of an additional presence in the room with him and Walter. He looked round and saw that Jack had slipped quietly in and was standing off to one side silently looking down at the 'new' SG-2. The Colonel had positioned himself in such a way that he would not be seen if either Sam or Teal'c should look up at the window.

The General noted this positioning and also the tight set of Jack's facial features. His brows were deeply furrowed and his lips were drawn tightly together in a thin line. Jack was leaning heavily on the wall and was encased in a self-hug that would not have looked out of place on the late Doctor Jackson.

George sighed heavily as Walter announced that the last Chevron was locked. Moments later the wormhole burst into life and Lou Ferretti looked expectantly up at the General.

"SG-2, you have a go." He announced over the comms, "See you in a few days, God speed people."

Ferretti gave a tidy salute and got to work getting his team and all the equipment through the gate in an orderly fashion.

Once they were all safely through the General turned away from the window, intending to speak to Jack. When he looked he found that the spot previously occupied by the Colonel was now vacant.

He looked quizzically at Walter who looked decidedly uncomfortable. "He slipped out just after the wormhole engaged, I don't think he saw them go through," the technician reported. "I'm sorry, Sir, should I have stopped him from leaving?"

"No, sergeant, that's OK." The older man said with a sigh. "Besides, if Colonel O'Neill was determined to leave the room then I don't think there's anything either you or me could have done to stop him at the moment."

Walter stuttered at this, amazed that the General wasn't more worried about Jack potentially disobeying a direct command. "Yes, Sir…er…no, Sir…Oh, sorry, Sir."

"That's OK, sergeant." George said, patting the younger man on the shoulder. "I'd like to say that I'll be in my office if you need me but right now it looks like I'm going on a Colonel hunt." he said sadly.

"Yes, Sir. Do you know where he'll be?" Walter asked carefully.

"I have a pretty good idea where to start looking, sergeant." Hammond sighed again.

Walter nodded, knowing exactly where he'd start looking for Jack if he needed to. "That's good, Sir."

"Call me on the PA if anything urgent comes up," requested the General. "Otherwise I'll see you later on – after I've dealt with Colonel O'Neill."


	11. Chapter 11

Sticks and Stones - Chapter 11 - by Emma Nisbet (grnfield)

General Hammond left the control room and made his way straight down to Daniel's office. It hadn't been assigned to anyone else although members of Daniel's department were usually found to be in there due to the many books, scrolls and ledgers stored inside the small room.

When the General rounded the corner of the corridor to Daniel's office he was surprised to find Nyan pacing up and down in front of the door that he needed to enter. He could tell straight away that the young Bedrosian was upset and could hazard a guess as to what had occurred.

"Nyan, what are you doing out here?" he asked gently.

The nervous young man had not noticed the General approaching and jumped when the older man addressed him. "Oh…General Hammond, Sir. I'm…oh…I'll be on my way back upstairs now, Sir."

The General caught hold of the young man's arm as he turned to leave. "Wait, son. What's happened? Why are you pacing the corridor outside Doctor Jackson's office?"

"Please, Sir, I don't want to cause any trouble." Nyan squirmed in the General's firm grip on his arm. "Please let me just go. I'll not cause you any problems. Please, Sir."

"Hey now, calm down, son. You're not in any trouble and you're free to go whenever you want." The older man gently released Nyan's arm to prove this point. "Just please tell me, before you go, is Colonel O'Neill the reason you're standing out here?"

"Thank you, Sir." Nyan said, breathing heavily. "…and yes, Sir, he is."

"It's OK, Nyan. I thought as much. Would you care to tell me what happened?" The General asked softly.

"Well…Sir…I was in Doctor Jackson's office, researching a Celtic dialect for the translation I'm doing for SG-8. I'd just found the book I needed when Colonel O'Neill burst in and ordered me out. Well I just dropped the book on the table and left." The Bedrosian stopped and looked down at his feet. "He looked…well he looks like he hasn't slept in weeks, Sir. Um…I don't mean to speak out of turn but he really doesn't look at all well, Sir."

"I know, son, I know." The General told the distraught young man. "I saw him a while back but lost track of him before I got to speak to him. Thank you for the information, Nyan and I'm very sorry that Colonel O'Neill upset you. Why don't you go to the commissary for a while, to calm yourself down before you go back upstairs? Your translation may have to wait a little longer, I think that book will have to stay where it is for the time being."

"Yes, Sir." Nyan nodded. "I'll see if I can find another book elsewhere that will tell me what I need to know. Will…will the Colonel be alright, Sir?"

"I hope so, son. I really do. It has hit him hard every time Doctor Jackson has 'died' but there's some finality over it this time. Plus it happened right in front of the Colonel and there was nothing he could do about it." The General patted Nyan on the arm, "Off you go, son. I'll see to things here."

"Thank you, Sir…and good luck." Nyan bowed his head to the older man before heading off down the corridor in the direction of the lifts.

George rubbed his hand over his bald head as he watched the retreating back of the alien man. 'Oh Jack, what are you doing to yourself?' he thought sadly.

Turning to the door of Daniel's office he paused with his hand on the handle. Taking a deep, cleansing breath he turned the handle and went inside.

#

Upon entering the office General George Hammond was surprised to find the room in darkness. 'Not a good sign.' thought the Texan.

Figuring that Jack wouldn't appreciate him turning the harsh main light on, the General wedged the door open to allow the light from the corridor outside to illuminate the room. He located the desk lamp and switched it on letting the gentle light to fill the room. He then returned to the door and closed it firmly, locking both himself and the not-yet-located Colonel O'Neill inside the room.

Turning his attention back to locating his missing 2IC, George softly stepped towards the far end of the office. Moving round the couch he located his missing Colonel, sitting hunched up on the floor, leaning against a large, metal filing cabinet with his back against the concrete wall.

Jack's legs were tightly drawn up to his body and his face was buried in his knees. He had his arms clasped forcefully over his head and George could see fine tremors running throughout the other man.

Jack gave no indication that he was aware of the presence of his commanding officer, so George decided to give him a little more time. The older man moved back and sat on the arm of the couch to wait - for as long as it took for Jack to come back from wherever his mind had taken him.


	12. Chapter 12

Sticks and Stones - Chapter 12 - by Emma Nisbet (grnfield)

After nearly three quarters of an hour, General Hammond was beginning to be seriously worried about Jack. The Colonel had not moved since the base commander had entered the room although the tremors in the younger mans arms had long since ceased.

The General got up from the couch and made his way to Daniel's coffee machine. He replenished the water and heaped the ground coffee beans into the appropriate compartment. Once he'd done that he quietly made a call to Janet Fraiser in the infirmary and informed her of the situation. He requested that she come to Daniel's office but not to try and enter, only to wait outside.

When the coffee was ready George poured two mugs and walked back over towards Jack. He placed both mugs safely on the low table by the couch and moved to crouch in front of the inert form of his 2IC.

He knew better than to try and touch Jack but as he crouched down he noticed the muscles in Jack's arms twitch. Hoping this was a sign that Jack was now aware of his presence he softly spoke the Colonels name. After getting no reaction, George tried again. This time when he called Jack's name he was rewarded with movement from the younger man.

Jack stirred slightly and brought his arms down from over his head. His hands spontaneously clutched at his hair and he stayed like that for a few moments before allowing his hands to fall limply down by his sides.

"That's it, Jack." The General encouraged gently. "Easy does it, son."

Jack O'Neill seemed to struggle for a moment. Then, with his eyes tightly closed, he slowly raised his face from his knees until the back of his head rested on the concrete wall behind him. Even in the subdued light of the office, George could see the salty tracks of dried tears clearly on the other man's face.

Jack stayed still for a short while, breathing deeply as if to steel himself to who or what he would see when he opened his eyes.

George sensed his reluctance to take the next step and said quietly, "Don't worry, Jack. It's only you and I here."

Jack inhaled a deep, shuddering breath and slowly opened his eyes. George was careful to keep his face neutral but this proved extremely difficult due to the utter devastation that was clearly showing in Jack's eyes.

George put a supportive hand on Jack's arm. "Welcome back, Colonel. You had me worried for a while there."

Jack chuffed out a breath, George presumed this was supposed to be a small noise of acknowledgement but it came out more like a strangled sob.

Jack frowned and cleared his throat before trying again. "Sorry, Sir. Kinda getting a bit worried about myself here too," he admitted in a scratchy voice.

"Do you think you can get up and move over to the couch?" The older man asked, raising himself until he was standing upright. "I don't know about you but this floor is murder on my knees, and you've been down there longer than I have."

"Well, you know my knees, Sir." Jack said, shifting slightly on the floor. "Uh…sorry, Sir. I might need a hand here - to actually get up I mean."

The General reached out a hand for Jack to grasp onto. As Jack started to pull himself up, George realised that the other man was clasping something tightly in the void between his chest and his legs.

The Colonel grabbed the General's proffered hand with his right hand and clutched the hidden item with his left. The two men then moved over to the couch where Jack unceremoniously dropped himself down with a loud groan.

"Here you are, Jack." George said softly as he handed Jack one of the mugs of coffee. He then retook his previous position on the arm of the couch and took the other drink for himself.

As he sat drinking his coffee, George cast an appraising eye over his 2IC. Jack was leaning heavily into the couch, drinking his coffee with his eyes closed. The General noticed that the mystery item was still tightly clasped in Jack's left hand. Now that Jack was off the floor the older man could see that it was a picture frame, although he couldn't see the photograph as it was face down to Jack's stomach. Thinking about the room they were in, and Jack's state of mind at the moment, it didn't take a genius to work out who or what the picture would contain.


	13. Chapter 13

Sticks and Stones - Chapter 13 - by Emma Nisbet (grnfield)

Jack let out a small sigh as he drained the dregs from his coffee mug. He leant forwards and placed the mug carefully on the small table in front of him, rubbed over his upper face with his right hand and scrubbed his eyes to eradicate any last traces of tears. He slowly came to realise that the General was watching him intently and he dropped his hand into his lap. This only served to draw the attention of both men to the picture frame in Jack's other hand.

"Oh," said Jack, as if he'd only just noticed the frame. He lifted the front of it off his stomach and looked at the photograph. Almost immediately Hammond saw the glimmer of fresh tears in the Colonels eyes.

He held his hand out to Jack, silently asking for the photo. The younger man held it out to his commanding officer who gently took it from him. The General looked at it and found, as he expected, that it was a team photo of SG-1, taken not long after Daniel returned from his ascension.

"Crap," Jack cursed when a tear escaped his control and ran down his cheek. He wiped the errant tear with the back of his hand, only to find that more replaced it. Giving up any semblance of control, he balled up both fists and, propping his elbows on his knees, crammed them into his eyes. "Crap, crap, crap." he mumbled, each curse being accompanied by a small head-butt onto both fists.

"Jack…" the General began.

"I've lost them, George." Jack said quietly. "I've lost them all. What am I going to do?"

Hammond slid from the arm of the couch and crouched on the floor in front of Jack. Tentatively he laid a hand on the other man's knee and squeezed gently.

"Listen to me Jack," he requested. "You will get through this, it will take time, but you will get through it."

Jack's only response was a wet sniff.

"Jack…" continued General Hammond patiently. "Look at me, Son."

Slowly Jack raised his head from his hands and looked into the worried eyes of his commanding officer.

"That's better." Hammond reached up and patted one of Jack's arms. "Jack, you've got to remember that you're not alone here. There's a large number of people here who care a great deal about your welfare, and quite frankly you've had us all very worried over the last few weeks."

Jack sat up straighter and scrubbed his eyes. He covered the General's hand with his own, an acknowledgement of the comfort the older man was giving. "Thank you, Sir. That means a lot to me. I'm sorry I've worried you, I know I've been 'difficult' since…" Jack faltered and took a deep breath before continuing. "I guess it was just the final straw when I saw they really were going on without me."

"Jack, you know I would have kept them here if I possibly could. I'll remind you that Major Carter and Teal'c are only temporarily assigned to SG-2. Once you've recovered sufficiently and can be cleared for gate travel then they will return to SG-1 with you."

"As a three, or four man team?" asked Jack.

George exhaled - long, slow - while he worked out how best to answer without distressing the Colonel again. "Jack, I don't think this is the time, or the place, to discuss that. When the time comes, the decision may well be out of my hands, you know that."

"Yeah, I realise that." Jack said quietly, looking down at his feet. "For the record though, I'm not sure I could go through breaking in a fourth team member again. In fact I'm not too sure I want to go back through the gate again without all of SG-1 behind me."

"I hear you, Son," the General told him. "The SGC has seen a lot of upset in the past eight years, and SG-1 probably more so than anyone. If you don't want gate travel any more then what are you thinking, Jack?"

Jack sighed, exhaustion starting to get the better of him now. "I don't know…to be honest with you, George, that retirement plan I set up years ago has been calling my name - really loudly - for the last few weeks. There's just something stopping me from taking that final step quite yet. I can't define what though, it's just 'something'."

"Well, we'll discuss this again at a later date." The General said. "There's no point rushing into something to regret it later. We'll sit down with the options and work out what would be for the best. Please don't forget, you're not going through this alone."

Jack managed a weak smile. "Thank you, Sir. For understanding…and for coming to find me."

"Any time, Jack. Any time." The older man said as he raised himself to his feet. "Now, Dr. Fraiser should be waiting in the corridor for us. Jack, would you mind if I let her in, so she can take a look at you. She told me that you didn't keep your appointment with her yesterday and she was extremely worried about you."

George could see that Jack was too tired to put up any real objection, even if he had wanted to.

"I did?" Jack asked in confusion. "Oh, sure, go ahead. At least it's Janet and not Warner, I don't think I could deal with Warner at the moment. Janet understands me even when I don't really tell her anything."

"I know what you mean, Jack." George told him, patting his shoulder as he moved towards the door. "I know what you mean."

#

George unlocked the door and slipped out into the corridor, pulling the door to behind him. Janet Fraiser was waiting nearby, pacing slowly up and down the corridor. When she spotted the General she made her was quickly over to him with a concerned expression on her face.

"How is he, Sir?" she asked.

"Not good, Doctor. Not good at all," he replied with sadness in his voice. "He's talking about retiring again, and I think he might just go ahead with it this time. Although I've told him that I'm not going to discuss that until I feel he's up to it, what worries me is just how long it might take until he is."

"Hmm, I don't know, Sir. Let me go and check him over and see where we stand physically. I told you he missed his appointment yesterday, didn't I?" Janet asked.

"Yes, Doctor, you did. I don't believe that Colonel O'Neill set foot inside the mountain at all yesterday. I'm sure he didn't miss the appointment deliberately. He seemed genuinely confused when I told him I knew he'd missed it." The General told the petite woman.

"I think he's overwhelmed by everything that's going on with him at the moment. On top of the Daniel situation, he's not long recovered from some serious injuries. I'm sure something like my appointment is probably low on his list of priorities at the moment." Janet said sadly. "What am I going to be walking in to, Sir? Do you need to come back in?"

"I'll wait out here, Doctor, you'll be fine." Hammond told her. "Jack's on the couch but he's exhausted - I don't know when he last slept but from the state of him it wasn't all that recently."

"OK, thank you, Sir. I took the precaution of bringing some sedatives with me." She retrieved a syringe from her lab coat and showed the General. "I wasn't too sure what I would find when you called me. I might see if the Colonel will let me give him a little of this, at least then we'll know he's had some real rest."

The General nodded. "Good thinking, Doctor. Also, if Jack feels more comfortable resting in Doctor Jackson's office instead of the infirmary then I'll have a guard posted on the door so he's not disturbed."

"Yes, Sir," agreed Janet. "I'll let you know. Do you want to wait out here? I can always let you know when I come out. I don't want to rush Jack into taking the drugs, so I may be a while."

"Very well, Doctor. I'll return to my office, Walter will know where I am if I need to leave for any reason." he told her.

George nodded to the Doctor and paced slowly away, in the direction of the elevators.

Janet watched him go as she replaced the syringe in the pocket of her lab coat. She took a deep breath, pushed the door open and entered the office.


	14. Chapter 14

Sticks and Stones - Chapter 14 - by Emma Nisbet (grnfield)

Janet immediately noted that the only light was coming from the small desk lamp. Dull as this was it illuminated enough of the room to allow her to view the still form of Jack O'Neill.

The Colonel was slumped back on the couch with his head leaning on the backrest and from the angle she was standing Janet couldn't see his face. She remembered the General telling her that Jack was exhausted and she wondered if he had fallen asleep.

She paused for a moment, unsure of what to do. She knew that Jack's black ops training meant that he would awake at the slightest noise and if he had finally succumbed to slumber then she didn't want to disturb him.

A moment later though the decision was taken away from the diminutive doctor.

Jack swayed slightly although he made no effort to raise his head from the couch. In barely a whisper he said, "Hello Janet. Is it your turn to sit with the screw-up of a colonel?"

Janet moved to the front of the couch and sat timidly down next to Jack. "Sir…Jack, please don't talk like that," she said in dismay.

"Why?" he asked. "It's what everyone's thinking – I know that."

"Jack…no one's thinking that of you, We all know what a hard time you're having at the moment. We all understand…and we miss Daniel as well, Sir." Janet told him.

Jack rolled his head towards the doctor and opened his eyes to look at her. "But it wasn't up to you to look after him that day – now was it? It was mine and I failed him…for the last time."

Now that Jack's eyes were open Janet felt brave enough to offer him comfort by laying her hand on his arm.

"There was nothing you could have done," she told him. "You weren't to know that earthquake was going to happen, you certainly can't blame yourself for that."

"I could have made him come outside with me, not left him there on his own," he told her.

"He wouldn't have been impressed with that, now would he?" she asked. "You didn't expect there to be any danger did you?"

"Not straight away, I should have though. I left him on his own to make radio contact with Teal'c and Carter. Carter'd told me that someone had stolen the UAV so I should have taken him out with me when I went to speak to the other two the second time. Teal'c told me he thought that Daniel shouldn't be alone so I started back towards the pyramids. I stopped because I had to report in to the General and I was speaking on the MALP when all hell broke loose. I tried to run back inside the pyramid but I fell and I couldn't get back up. I can't remember anything else after that until I woke up in the infirmary." Jack was gasping for breath by now and his speech faltered to a halt.

Janet moved her hand up his arm to cup his face. She was stunned when he leaned into the touch and closed his eyes.

A single tear escaped from Jack's eye and slowly slid down his face onto the doctors hand. She could feel the shuddering intakes of his breath under her palm and quietly questioned him, "Jack?"

Slowly Jack opened his tear filled eyes and looked into Janet's concerned brown ones. He opened his mouth to speak but no sound came out.

Janet softly stroked his cheek with her thumb and gave him a small, supportive smile. She nodded her head slightly, silently urging him to try again.

He swallowed deeply, blinked twice and then quietly, so very quietly the doctor heard the words, "Janet, I think I need help."

Without warning he slumped forwards towards her. She tucked his head tightly under her chin as he did so and wrapped her arms around him. She was shocked to feel his arms snake around her waist and cling on tightly and she stroked his back firmly.

Subconsciously she began rocking him gently to and fro as a mother would comfort a distressed child. They stayed that way for a short while until Janet quietly asked, "Jack, when was the last time you had any sleep?"

He unfurled his arms from their death grip on her waist and carefully pushed himself up to a sitting position.

"Truthfully?" he asked, looking her straight in the eye. "I haven't a clue. I go home, sit on the couch and wish I could invite Daniel round for pizza and beer like we often do when we're not on a mission. Then I remember I can't do that any more so I get myself a drink. Then I'll have another to toast Daniel, then another to commiserate my failure to protect him. Then another for the team that I've lost, then another to forget…"

He found that he couldn't hold her gaze any longer and dropped his eyes to his lap.

"…at some point I'll fall into bed and toss and turn all night. I might drop off for a few minutes but all I see is that God damn pyramid disappearing in a cloud of dust and I wake up again – stone cold sober and drenched in sweat." He glanced into her eyes again, "You guessed most of that though, I reckon. I don't think you miss much and the rumour mill's bound to be rife round here at the moment."

"I guessed you weren't sleeping well, that much is true." Janet agreed. "But, Colonel, you know that you can always talk to me. Day or night I'll always be there for you if you need me – you do know that don't you, Jack?"

"I guess so, I think I was in a bit of denial until not too long ago though. I thought I was handling things in my own way. I guess my way's not going too well though any more."

"What happened to change things, Jack? What happened today in particular?" Janet knew that Sam and Teal'c had been assigned to SG-2 and that today was their first mission through the gate since they lost Daniel. She figured that if she could get Jack to open up and admit the problem to himself then this would help to kick-start the healing process.

"I lost the other two," Jack said simply. "Sam and Teal'c are going through the gate without me, my last two chicks have flown the nest."

"And you're afraid that they've abandoned their 'mother hen' for good?" Janet asked him in a soft voice.

"Hmph," said Jack. "I think they've moved on without me, yes. I'm sure it's a good thing for the both of them and the SGC as well though. I've told the General that I don't want to keep going through the gate any more anyway. I just can't do it. There's no way I'd want to clip either of their wings and ground them here with me. They're out there doing what they know and love and more importantly, they're doing it together. I couldn't really ask for more, now could I?"

"I see what you mean, Sir." Janet agreed. "Are you certain about not going out in the field though? What would you do instead?"

"I've got to sit down and have a serious chat with the General about my options. I don't really want to retire again yet. It's always and option but something's telling me that's not the route I want to take at the moment. As I say, I've really got to talk to the General." he told her.

"I understand, Sir, really I do." Janet looked nervously at him. "Jack…" she hesitated. "…would you let me give you something? Something so you can rest. Either in the infirmary or on the couch in here if you'd be more comfortable."

"I'd prefer to stay here but someone may need something from in here." Jack pointed out.

"Not a problem, Sir." Janet said confidently. "I can lock you in and I'll even post someone to make sure no one disturbs you, apart from me. I'll come and check on you at regular intervals, if you don't mind. Once you're asleep I'll be careful that I don't wake you when I open the door. I'll be very quiet, Sir."

"Sure thing, Janet. What have you got - a shot or something? Did you come prepared?" he asked.

"I'm always prepared, Sir." Janet told him. "I have to be around here. Lie down here, Jack, and lose the boots."

Janet moved the cushions to one end of the couch for Jack to rest his head on. She patted them invitingly once Jack had removed his footwear.

As he lay down she had a sudden thought, "You've not been drinking today, have you, Sir? I need to know before I give you the shot."

"Not since yesterday, Doc. Just when I got home, before bed." he told her.

She wiped his bicep with a sterile wipe before injecting the sedative into his arm. "OK, once you've had a good sleep please promise me you're going to try and do something about the drinking. You know you can't keep on the way you are, drinking is never a solution. You're a stronger man than that, Jack. In your heart you know that too."

"Hmm, pr'mise J'net," came the slurred reply.

Janet sighed, the shot was obviously taking effect very rapidly on the appallingly tired Colonel.

"Just remember, we're all here for you, Colonel." she said quietly as she stroked his hair. She pulled a blanket out of the cupboard by the door and covered the now sleeping man with it. She pulled out the desk chair and sat for a few minutes, watching him sleep, before she moved quietly outside and locked the door behind herself.

She used the phone in the corridor to call General Hammond and waited until the SF arrived that the General had sent down. She gave the soldier strict instructions that no one was to be allowed inside the office and to call herself immediately if Jack tried to leave.

Then, with a heavy heart, she made her way back to the infirmary to make herself a very strong cup of coffee.


	15. Chapter 15

Sticks and Stones - Chapter 15 - by Emma Nisbet (grnfield)

Eleven hours had passed by the time Jack awoke, finally roused from his slumber by the overriding need to pee.

He opened his eyes and looked around, trying to get his bearings. His eyes settled on the still form of Janet Fraiser. She was sleeping soundly in an uncomfortably looking desk chair with her feet up on the end of the couch near to Jack's own feet.

The Colonel clambered to his feet being careful not to disturb the small doctor as he did so. He quietly slipped into the bathroom and took care of the pressing need of his bladder.

He washed his face and scrubbed his damp hands through his short hair before attempting to flatten it back into some sort of order.

He returned to the main room of the office and gently roused Janet with a slight shake on her shoulders. She opened her eyes and looked around, somewhat confused by her uncomfortable position.

"Hey, Doc, you OK?" he asked. "That doesn't look to be the best chair to be sleeping in. How long have you been there anyway?"

Janet sat up and stretched her arms above her head then peered at her watch. "Finished my shift about five hours ago," she told him. "I sat in here reading for a while but I guess I dropped off at some point."

She looked around for her book before she finally located it on the floor under her chair. She reached down and placed it on the desk behind her.

"How are you feeling, Sir?" she asked. "By my reckoning you've had a little over eleven hours sleep. I promise I didn't give you enough sedative to knock you out for anywhere near that long. Your body obviously took what it needed once I gave it a helping hand to get settled in the first place."

"Yeah, I guess it did need a bit of help settling," he admitted. "To be honest I do feel a hell of a lot better. Amazing what a good sleep can do for you. Don't know about you but I could eat out the commissary at the moment - and that's saying something."

"Good idea, Colonel. Cassie's staying with a friend overnight so I've no reason to rush back. Once we've eaten I'm going to have a shower to freshen up before I even think about going home. Don't take it the wrong way but I think you may want to do the same, Sir." She gave him a careful smile as she offered up this suggestion.

Jack looked down at his crumpled clothing and grimaced. "You know what? Hungry though I am, I think I might actually need to do that first. I can't be seen in public looking like this. My stomach will have to wait half an hour while I make myself presentable."

Jack removed his wrinkled outer-shirt and folded it over his arm. He then patted down his trousers in a vain attempt to flatten them.

"Meet you outside the commissary in 30?" he suggested.

"OK, Colonel. Will do." she replied.

Jack started towards the door intending to leave.

"Er, Jack…" Janet called after him.

"What?" Jack asked, turning back towards her.

"Well…You might need those." she said, pointing at Jack's boots that had been pushed under the couch.

"Humph, yeah you may be right there." he smiled, looking down at his sock clad feet. "Oh, sod it." he gave her a cheeky look, bent down and picked up the boots. He then turned and left the room without putting them on.

"Men," thought Janet to herself. Looking out of the door at the departing Colonel she couldn't help but smile. A hurdle had definitely been cleared today. The race was far from over but at least they were still in the running.


	16. Chapter 16

Sticks and Stones - Chapter 16 - by Emma Nisbet (grnfield)

Three Weeks Later.

A considerably improved Colonel O'Neill asked for admittance to the office of General George Hammond. He was ushered inside and sat down himself down when requested. He resisted the temptation to squirm as he felt the scrutiny of his commanding officer.

The older man was obviously pleased by what he saw as he let out a deep breath and announced, "Colonel O'Neill, it's good to see you looking so much better. To what do I owe the honour of your visit today? Do you feel you're ready to return to active duty?"

"Ah, well, that is one of the reasons I wanted to talk to you. Could I possibly discuss another item first, Sir?" Jack asked.

"By all means, Colonel, please do." the General said obligingly.

"Well, Sir," Jack began. "It's about Daniel's house."

"Ah, yes, I was beginning to wonder about that," the General told him. "I didn't want to press the issue though, I knew you'd make a decision about it in your own time."

"Thank you, Sir," Jack said. "I wanted to run an idea past you before I took things any further.

"OK, but Jack, the final decision lies with you." the older man reminded him.

Jack nodded, "I know, Sir, just this could be a big deal depending on your views of alien humans living out on the streets of Colorado Springs."

"Sounds like you have a particular plan in mind, Jack." the General observed.

Jack noticed the use of his first name immediately as Hammond's way of letting him know that the conversation would not necessarily end up on file if he felt that Jack's idea was inappropriate.

"Thanks, George," Jack said, acknowledging the unspoken agreement between the two of them. "The thing is…you know that Nyan has been lodging with Major Donnelly while he's been getting used to life on planet Earth."

"Yes, I realise that. I know the arrangement has been very helpful to him as well. I'm sure it's eased his transition into Earth society a great deal." Hammond said this with a little pride in his voice. He had played a large part in getting Nyan's paperwork through efficiently and had suggested that one of the members of the SGC take the young Bedrosian under their wing for a while.

They all held a great deal of respect for the young man who had turned his back on his whole belief system to help SG-1 out of the jam they had found themselves in.

"Yes, Sir, me too." Jack agreed, his military training kicking back in automatically as he used the official salutation on his commanding officer. "Well…you already know that Charles Donnelly recently married his fiancé Charlene."

"Yes, I'm aware. That's why he requested a transfer off of SG-2," the General replied.

"Right, Sir. Well, what you may not yet know is that Charlene and Charles have discovered that they are going to be parents in a little over seven months time." Jack said.

"No, I can't say that bit of info has made its way to me. Although it's very early days so I can't imagine they want it to be public knowledge yet?" Hammond asked.

"No, Sir, you're right. Not many people know yet at all." Jack admitted. "The only reason that I know is because Nyan told me. I went to apologise for chucking him out of Daniel's office the other week but something else was obviously on his mind. Well, I prodded him a bit and he told me that he was feeling a bit out of place at the Donnelly's house. He feels that the newly-weds deserve to have the house to themselves, especially now there's a baby on the way. I didn't want to get his hopes up so I simply said that I'd explain the situation to yourself and see if another solution could be come up formulated."

"Well done, Colonel. I wish Nyan had felt that he could come to me himself with this. I don't want that young man worrying unduly. I think I can guess where your thoughts are headed but go on, Colonel. What's your idea?" the General asked the younger man.

"Yes, I think you've probably worked out what I'm going to suggest. I want to offer Daniel's house to Nyan. We owe him a lot for saving our butts out on Bedrosia and I think Daniel would have been more than pleased to see his house and belongings going to someone who would really appreciate them. Nyan has been taken under the wing of the whole archaeological department and he'd basically become Daniel's protégé. I know he'll care for the artifacts in Daniel's house and treat them with the same respect that Daniel would have done. The house is fully paid for and I've taken the more personal items out already, along with anything even vaguely classified. Carter's still got his computer shoved under the desk in her lab and the fish tank has been moved into the rec room here. Everything else is just "stuff" and artifacts with the exception of the piano which, quite frankly, I've got no idea what to do with. If Nyan's having the house I'd like him to keep the piano safe for sentimental reasons although I'll move it into storage if I have to. I'd rather not do that though as it'll do it no good packed away in some cold and possibly damp storage area." Jack paused for breath and the General jumped in before he could get going again.

"I'm sure that Nyan would take good care of it." George told the other man. "Let me make some phone calls and I'll check that there'll be no fallout from us allowing Nyan free run of Colorado Springs. Although he is one of the most sensible, level headed young men that I'm ever likely to meet so I'm not anticipating any problems. I'll be telling the powers that be of my opinion on this matter too."

"Thank you, Sir." Jack replied. "Do you want me to discuss my other 'issue' now?"

"Tell you what, Colonel. Why don't you leave me to make these calls for now?" the General asked reasonably. "Come back in one hour and I'll hopefully be able to let you know what's been decided. We can discuss the other matter once a decision's been made about Nyan."

"Fine by me, Sir. I'll be back in one hour." Jack told his commanding officer. He stood and waited to be dismissed. He saluted Hammond before leaving the room.

#

When he returned an hour later Jack knocked on the General's door. As he waited to be called in he could hear that the other man was obviously still on the phone.

A couple of minutes later the voice inside the office stopped and he was called to enter.

As he stepped across the threshold of the office, Jack watched his CO for clues of how the conversation had gone. He noted that George seemed quite at ease although he knew from experience that the Texan was a formidable poker player so nothing was for certain.

"Sit down, Colonel." The General said in a jovial tone. "It's good knews. The presidential aides have agreed that Nyan is to be given fill and unrestricted access to the Colorado Springs area for as long as he is working within the SGC. Should anything happen to his position here then the decision may be reversed but I can't see their being much likelihood of that myself. They have suggested that you may want to remain as owner of Doctor Jackson's property while allowing Nyan to live their as a tenant."

"But…" Jack interrupted.

"I'm not suggesting you charge him rent to live their or anything like that. The paperwork can remain in your name but an agreement can be drawn up between Nyan and yourself quite easily." the General told him.

"Oh. That's not quite what I had in mind, Sir." Jack told the older man. "I was intending to sign the whole thing over to Nyan - lock, stock and barrel - so to speak. I have no need for the house. Both it and my house are fully paid for and I have the cabin for when I eventually retire. That's been in my family for years and was bought and paid for before I was born, Sir."

"I understand, Jack. However until Nyan has proved himself trustworthy to the likes of the NID and the IAO they want him to have as little collateral as possible. That sounds as ludicrous to me as I'm sure it does to you but, son, we have to stay on the right side of these people - no matter what our personal opinions are."

"OK, Sir. I'll go ahead with that - even if I don't entirely agree with it." Jack agreed graciously. "So it's OK if I run the idea past Nyan later today? I know he's holed up in the archaeology lab today trying to decipher some tablet or the other that SG-11 brought back last week. It's got 'em all stumped at the moment."

"You may speak to Nyan, Jack, with my blessing. That young man deserves to truly start living his life here on Earth and this might just be the opening he needs to do that. Now, how about the other item that item that we needed to discuss? I noticed that when you were talking about the cabin it didn't sound like you were intending to retired to it any time soon. That's good news in my opinion, son."

"Well, yes and no, Sir." Jack began. "No, you're right I don't intend to retire yet - certainly not under my own steam anyhow."

"Glad to hear that, Colonel. Why do I have a feeling there's a 'but' at the end of that sentence?" George asked.

"…because there is, Sir. I don't want to retire, but I also don't think I could cope with regular gate travel quite yet - or maybe ever. This thing with Daniel. Sir…it's given me a lot of time to re-evaluate my place here. It's made me sit back and look at my current life as a whole too. I've spent a lot of time in the last few weeks with Dr. Teague - one of MacKenzie's colleagues. Janet arranged for me to meet with her and, Sir, she's been an angel. I still want to be of use here but I don't want to be responsible for breaking in another team only to have them snatched out from under me again." Jack paused and scrubbed his hands through his hair. "Problem is, Sir, I'm not cut out for a desk job so I'm not sure where my options lie at present."

"Hmm, I see, Colonel," the older man said. "Leave it with me for a few days and I'll see if I can come up with a satisfactory agreement. Doctor Fraiser tells me that you're still under doctors orders until the end of next week anyway. In the mean time go and break the good news to Nyan, it'll be a nice change to see the spirits lifted a little in the archaeology department. The mood down there has been extremely sombre of late - not without good reason, I understand - but sombre none the less."

"Yes, Sir. I'll go and see him now." Jack agreed.

The General nodded in acknowledgement. "Dismissed, Colonel."


	17. Chapter 17

Sticks and Stones - Chapter 17 - by Emma Nisbet (grnfield)

It was early the next week when Jack was finally recalled to General Hammond's office. He waited nervously while the General spoke to his secretary outside.

When the older man stepped back into the room he immediately noticed Jack standing behind the visitors chair. "At ease, Colonel. Take a seat."

Jack waited until the General took his own seat before sitting down himself.

George leaned his elbows on the polished wooden desktop and steepled his fingers looking at Jack thoughtfully. "I think you know why I asked you here and you don't need to worry. I think I've found a solution that will keep all affected parties happy."

"That's good to hear, Sir." Jack told him, letting out a small sigh of relief. "May I ask what your plan entails, Sir?"

"Well, it all hinges on you being willing to take the occasional gate trip. Only backwards and forwards between the Alpha site and maybe occasionally the Beta site too," the General explained.

"I would be agreeable to that, Sir. Doing what though?" Jack asked.

"Off-world training, Colonel." The General said confidently. "Once the new recruits have undergone basic training they will be sent to yourself, and the team that you'll be leading, for more in-depth training. You have completed more missions through the gate than most other men and you've been with the program since it's inception. If there's anyone who can prepare those soldiers for what they might meet out there then - in my opinion - there's no better man than you, Colonel."

Jack leant forwards wanting to hear more of the plan.

"You would be based at the Alpha site, accommodation areas have already been set up - granted they're not glamorous but they're serviceable. You'll be in constant contact with the SGC and also with teams in the field - to offer advice if needed. You will be the most experienced officer there and the most highly decorated. Basically, Colonel, you'll be your own boss - within reason - while you're there. You will, however retain the position of second-in-command of this base, to be recalled here as and when required."

The General saw an evil glint run through Jack's eyes as he processed the information that the older man had just imparted.

"Sir…" Jack said slowly. "I think you're a genius."

A relieved smile played across the faces of both men.

"I'm glad you approve, son," George told him fondly. "How long do you need to put your things in order here? When can you be ready to go?"

"End of next week OK, Sir?" Jack asked. "Nyan's moving into Daniel's house at the weekend and I said I'd help him. I think he's finding the whole prospect a bit daunting actually, Sir."

"I'm sure he is, son. I'm sure he is. I'm grateful you accepted the position, Jack. I'm not sure what I would have done with you if you hadn't," the General admitted.

"Thank you, Sir. It's more than I could have hoped for when I spoke to you last week." Jack told him. "To be honest I was still wondering if a quick retirement may have been on the cards. I wouldn't have been entirely surprised if you'd ordered it actually, Sir."

"No, Colonel. You're far too valuable a commodity to let go that easily." George told him. "This way your vast experience can benefit the SGC for years to come, through the next generation of soldiers. With any luck it'll be the start of a legacy that'll outlive the pair of us."

"A cheery thought, I'm sure." Jack said, raising himself to his feet. "If that's all, Sir. I think I've got some packing to do."

"Certainly, son." George said. "Dismissed."

~#~


	18. Chapter 18

Sticks and Stones - Chapter 18 - by Emma Nisbet (grnfield)

Jack was scheduled to leave for the Alpha site at the end of the following week. That gave him just enough time to help Nyan move into Daniel's house, get his basic affairs in order and lock up his house ready for whenever he would next return.

The day before he was due to leave he paid Nyan a visit and was pleased to see that the young man was starting to settle in nicely. He then delivered his truck, house keys and vital paperwork to Janet Fraiser for safekeeping.

He reported for duty on the morning of his scheduled departure and was pleased to see that Sam and Teal'c had arranged to be there at the SGC that morning. He was worried that they would be off-world and that they wouldn't have the chance to see them before he left. They'd been off-world a great deal in the last few weeks, SG-2 basically taking over and filling the void left by the absence of SG-1.

Jack felt a little guilty that he hadn't really managed to sit down with Sam and Teal'c to explain why he'd taken the training position at the Alpha site. He hoped they understood why he felt he couldn't lead a team through the gate any longer and that the loss of Daniel was the proverbial straw that had broken the camel's back.

When the time came to change into his BDUs, Jack found himself alone in the locker room. He sat for a short while in the quiet space and remembered, with fondness, some of the friendly banter that had gone on in the area between Daniel, Teal'c and himself.

"Good times," he thought to himself. He sighed before standing up to slowly get changed.

#

Ten minutes later, when he turned the corner into the gate room, Jack was greeted by the sight of all five members of the 'new and improved' SG-2 standing by the ramp. The entire team had gathered to wish him well in his new venture.

As he walked towards them Ferretti stepped forwards. "Hey, Jack. We had to come and see you off, to make sure you didn't change your mind at the last moment. I've kinda got used to my team how it is now. You've trained those two well, Jack. If you train your new recruits to anything like the same standard then the Goa'uld of the future ain't gonna know what's hit 'em."

"Hmph," replied Jack. "Don't think I can take much of the credit for those two, Lou. The pair of 'em were trained long before I ever got my grubby mitts on 'em! Glad to see you looking after 'em though. You better keep that up too 'cos I'll be back and after your scrawny little Italian ass the minute I hear otherwise."

"Don't you worry about that, Jack. I don't think Teal'c'd take no crap from me anyway!" Lou laughed, slapping his former CO on the back. "Anyways, I'll let you say your goodbyes to the others. I just couldn't let you slope away without saying something."

"I appreciate that, Lou, I really do." Jack told him as Lou stepped aside to allow Jack to pass.

He greeted the other two members of SG-2 with a simple acknowledgement before he got to Sam.

She had a glimmer of excess moisture in her eyes but Jack knew from experience that the Major would shed no tears in public. She would probably wait until later that evening to do so in the privacy of her own home. He hoped that Teal'c would be there to offer her a shoulder to cry on and that she'd not suffer the upset alone.

"Major," he greeted her formally.

"Sir," she replied, grateful that he'd given her the formality to hide behind. "Good luck, Sir. We'll miss you."

"Me too, Carter. Me too," he agreed. "You stay safe, you hear me? I don't want to have to come and drag you out of some hell hole 'cos Ferretti's not looking after you like he should."

"I'll try, Sir," she promised. "Really I will. Do you know they've agreed that Teal'c and I will stay together and that we're now officially full members of SG-2?"

"I heard," Jack told her. "I think it's a good move. You know where you stand now. I never liked the idea of you being left hanging, not quite knowing where you belonged. I suppose that until they'd figured out what to do with me they couldn't really make a decision about what to do with the two of you."

"Yes, Sir, I agree. Please try and keep in touch, the best you can. I know you're going to be based mainly at the Alpha site but please, Sir, don't become a stranger to us," she pleaded.

"Hey, there ain't many stranger than me. You should know that, Carter." Jack joked, trying to lift the mood.

Sam smiled. "Yeah. I know that, Sir," she chuckled, then added more seriously, "…but you know what I mean."

"I do, Carter, don't worry." He squeezed her shoulder tightly with one of his hands. It was all the contact he could allow on the base although what he really wanted to do was draw her into a crushing hug and not let go.

She looked deep into his eyes and he knew that she understood. She gripped the wrist of the arm holding her shoulder and squeezed back briefly.

He nodded, dropped his arm and moved past Sam to speak to Teal'c.

"O'Neill," the large man said solemnly. "It has been an honour to serve with you over many years. We have overcome a great number of formidable obstacles together and I owe you my life many times over. I wish you 'Ral-tora kree' a wish of good luck in my language. Excel in the new challenges now set out for you and 'be safe' my brother."

With that the large Jaffa clamped his arm to his chest in a mark of respect and dropped his head.

"Amen to that," O'Neill said quietly, with a lump in his throat. He was pretty sure that was one of the longest speeches that Teal'c had ever directed at him.

He laid a hand on the warriors huge arm. "Look after 'em, T. Carter in particular, even though she won't appreciate me saying it. Ferretti's a good guy but you two are the only family I've got left. I don't want to lose either of you just 'cos I'm not there to keep my eyes on you."

"Indeed, O'Neill." Teal'c said. "I understand and pledge to continue protecting my Tau'ri brethren until the final breath leaves my body."

"You're a good man, Teal'c." Jack told him.

"Farewell, O'Neill." Teal'c finally said as he stepped back to stand next to Sam.

Jack turned and looked up towards the control room. He saw General Hammond looking down at them in the gate room and locked on to the older man's eyes.

The General held Jack's gaze for a moment or two. "Colonel O'Neill," came his voice over the comms. "Are you ready to depart? The Alpha site are expecting you round about now."

"Certainly, Sir." Jack called back. "Let's get this show on the road, General."

"Dial it up, Sergeant." George requested, smiling down at the assembled people with a fatherly look on his face.

"Yes, Sir." Walter replied and started depressing the appropriate buttons on his computer.

The gate spun into life and before long the wormhole was established.

The main bulk of people travelling through to the Alpha site went through the gate, taking with them the trunk containing Colonel O'Neill's personal possessions. He hadn't packed a great deal but he knew that the Alpha site was going to be 'home' for the foreseeable future so he'd packed himself a few certain items to make it more 'homely'. These were mainly photographs and mementos of his life with SG-1 and before that of his life with his beloved son, Charlie.

Soon only Jack remained and he walked slowly up the ramp. When he reached the top he turned to salute General Hammond, up in the control room. He felt his heart leap into his throat when the salute was answered, not only by the General but by all the five members of SG-2 who were standing to attention near the base of the ramp.

He broke the salute and turned swiftly towards the wormhole and the sudden frosty sensation that would mask any rogue tears that may have managed to escape.

#


	19. Chapter 19

Sticks and Stones - Chapter 19 - by Emma Nisbet (grnfield)

Two weeks after Jack moved to the Alpha it was the 100 day anniversary of Daniel's death. 86 days since they had stopped looking for his body and exactly 50 days since Jack's breakdown in Daniel's office.

That evening Jack sat in his quarters within the Alpha site compound with a very expensive bottle of brandy.

He would only allow himself one glass though as he'd be training the next day. He just needed to toast his friend - he needed to tell Daniel that wherever he may be he would never be forgotten.

The sorrowful man wished that for just one moment he could feel a gust of air where one shouldn't be, or an unexplained tickling of his hair. Daniel had done these things when he's been ascended and Jack had watched out for these signals and gained comfort from knowing that his friend was still around.

Since the calamity that had befallen Daniel inside the pyramid on P7X-962 however, nothing of the sort had happened. Jack had picked up no hidden signals of any description and had finally acknowledged that Oma hadn't come to Daniel's aid this time.

The silver haired man raised his brandy glass above him in a toast and simply said, "To Daniel, the best friend anyone could ever have hoped for."

He savoured the heady aroma of the rich, fruity drink and slowly sipped at it until it was gone.

He sat for a while, lost in quiet contemplation, before going about his usual bedtime routine and settling down for the night.

#


	20. Chapter 20

Sticks and Stones - Chapter 20 - by Emma Nisbet (grnfield)

Two and a half months later the six month anniversary of Daniel's death was approaching fast.

Jack made contact with Sam and Teal'c and all three booked two weeks of leave beginning the following week. This would more than cover the day itself and the week afterwards.

They planned to spend the time at Jack's cabin, just the three of them - for old times sakes. The cabin was small enough to be cosy but had plenty of land where one could wonder and have time alone if needed.

The three ex-team-mates were to meet up at Jack's house and travel the long journey to the cabin together in Jack's large truck.

Sam and Jack would share the journey between them, neither feeling confident of Teal'c's driving capability on some of the dirt tracks that wound between some of the tiny towns on the way to Minnesota.

They were aiming to arrive the morning before the six month anniversary itself. The weather was due to be mild and the journey easy, but as long as ever.

#

They made good time, driving through the night so as to make the most of the time when they finally arrived. Jack had loaded the truck with provisions before they'd left Colorado Springs and it was a simple task for him to get the generator going while Teal'c unloaded. The two men insisted that Sam have a rest in the front room, as she'd driven the last leg of the journey and looked shattered.

Once they had the food unpacked, Teal'c and Jack prepared breakfast. They delivered it to Sam who had fallen asleep on the couch. She looked around in confusion before registering where she was.

She sat up, rubbed her eyes and said, "Sorry, Sir, I must have dropped off. I'll come and help you unload."

"Carter, drop the 'sir'. We're well and truly off-duty. The unloading's all done and we've made you breakfast. Well, we've made all of us breakfast but yours is here." He passed the tray to Sam and held it safely while she positioned her legs to support it.

"Thank you, both of you," she said. "Really though, you should have woken me. I could have helped."

"No need, Carter." Jack told her. "Anyway, you needed the sleep."

"I'd have been fine, Sir," she said. "…but, thank you."

Jack nodded his acknowledgement. "We'll freshen up after breakfast then we can go and see whether mother nature's done any damage to the area since I was here last. I thought a brisk hike in the woods would be an excellent way to stretch out after the journey," he suggested. "What d'ya think, T?"

"Indeed, O'Neill, I am most agreeable to this plan. The area around your secondary abode is most pleasant to observe and I am certain that the 'hike' as you call it will be a much more enjoyable experience than observing you fishing in your 'lake with no fish'." Teal'c said this mammoth speech with his usual completely straight face. He then turned and silently walked back into the kitchen.

Jack watched the back of the retreating Jaffa suspiciously before looking quizzically at Sam.

The young woman had a smirk on her face. "Don't look at me, Sir. I never know if he's joking either. I'm game though, a hike sounds great. We'll work up a good appetite for later on. I assume we're having a Jack O'Neill special barbeque tonight? That's traditional isn't it, on the first night at the cabin?"

"Sure is, Carter. Got some juicy rib-eyes in the refrigerator for tonight and some extra special marinated steaks for tomorrow evening. Going to do it in style." Jack said proudly.

"Nothing but the best for Daniel, Sir?" Sam asked.

"Absolutely, Carter," Jack agreed." I've got steaks that Daniel would have been salivating over. You remember how he was over spiced meat?"

Sam chuckled. "I sure do, Sir. He couldn't get enough of Grandma O'Neill's marinated chicken at your fourth of July celebrations the year before last. I seem to remember that he never did get you to tell him the secret ingredient?"

"Nope, can't give away the family secrets. Granny O'Neill would never forgive me, God rest her soul. Oddly enough though, that's the same marinade that's on tomorrow's steaks, so I'm glad you remembered it so well. I remember Daniel listing about every herb and spice I know trying to get me to let slip what was in it." Jack snickered, "Come to think about it, he probably reeled off a whole load of 'em that I'd never heard of as well."

Sam smiled fondly, "Yeah, I can imagine that. He'd have known them from all over the world."

"True." Jack agreed. "Anyway, I'll let you finish your breakfast. I'm going to track down T before he finishes the remaining waffle mixture. I've made enough for breakfast tomorrow but I have a feeling that a certain person may have his eye on it. Boy, he's sure got a sweet tooth on him - that one!"

Sam laughed, "He sure has, Sir. I'll not be long with this, then I'll use the bathroom and I'll be ready to go."

#

The three friends had a long walk in the forested area surrounding Jack's cabin and found several dead trees that had been blown down in recent storms.

After a quick lunch back at the cabin, they returned to the nearest fallen tree, with axes. They chopped it into manageable sized pieces to transport back to the cabin for firewood.

Once they had finally returned to the cabin they were hot, sweaty and ravenously hungry.

Jack and Teal'c allowed Sam first go at the bathroom while they stacked the firewood in orderly piles in the woodshed behind the cabin. Jack went inside when Sam came back out and left the two team-mates to light the barbeque in readiness for his return.

#

The charcoal was glowing brightly and a cheering heat greeted Jack when he stepped back out of the cabin.

"In you go, Teal'c. Water's running for ya," Jack said. "Don't take too long, I don't know about you but I've worked up quite an appetite this afternoon.

"I too also have a great desire for nourishment, O'Neill." Teal'c informed him. "Be assured, I will complete my ablutions with maximum efficiency and will return in a short time."

"You do that, T. There'll be some tasty rib-eyes with your name on waiting when you get back." Jack told him with a grin.

"I thank you, O'Neill." Teal'c said and he turned and went inside.

"So, how's things, Carter?" Jack asked as he dropped the first couple of steaks on the grill. "…and I mean really - not just the usual 'I'm fine, everything's OK' from your e-mails. Lou treating you both right?"

"Sir…" Sam began.

"Carter, I told you to quit it with the 'Sir'." Jack interrupted.

"I know, Si…Jack. But you know I can't help it - just like you never call me Sam. You always address me as Carter, whether we're on duty or off. You can't do it any more than I can," she pointed out. "Admit it."

Jack thought for a moment, "No, you're probably right. I'll try though…Sam." He added her name with a sardonic grin. "Kinda got off-subject there. I was asking you how you were getting along with Lou and the team."

"It's alright, Sir, really it is." Sam said, sounding almost convincing. "It's only been a few months but I feel like part of the team and I'm certain Teal'c feels the same way."

"Buuut?" Jack said, drawing the word out in a questioning manner.

"Well…it's…er…" Sam looked uncomfortable and fidgeted, picking at one of her fingernails.

Jack looked at her in frustration, "Spit it out, Carter, for Christ's sake."

"Sorry, Sir, it's just…well…it's not SG-1," the young woman confessed. "Si…Jack, what we had before, we knew what each other was thinking, there was an unspoken connection between us all. There was no question over who was in charge - yes Daniel used to enjoy pushing the boundaries when it was safe to do so but in the event of something big going down we all used to know our places. We'd all follow you without question…it just worked."

"But it doesn't with SG-2?" Jack asked.

"No, not in the same way…no." Sam replied. "It's like you said when we were first loaned to SG-2 - SG-1 was family. SG-2…SG-2 just…well…isn't. It's a team, it's a job, but it's nothing more - it's not my life like 'we' were. I go home at the end of a mission and something's just…well…missing. I can't really explain it…Jack, I'm sorry." Sam dropped her eyes to the ground, no longer able to meet the penetrating gaze of her former CO.

"Aw, Cart…Sam. Come 'ere." Jack reached out and dragged Sam forwards into a hug. He felt her stiffen slightly before she relaxed into it, eventually wrapping her arms around his back.

"I'm sorry, Sam," he told her. "Really I am. You should have spoken to me. Heck, I'm so far away most of the time, I can't see these things for myself." He hugged her tighter and placed a kiss on her blonde hair.

"I'm sorry too, it's just so hard," she sniffed. "I'm from a military family, I've been brought up that you don't question your CO - period. He's in charge, he's right, you're lower - live with it. Don't get me wrong, Ferretti's good at his job…but…but he's not you, Sir."

She looked up at this and he saw that her eyes were definitely holding more moisture than normal.

"That's not a bad thing, Sam," he told her, smoothing down her hair and kissing the end of her nose. "What we had with SG-1 was unique. Nothing quite like it in the whole of the SGC - hell, probably nothing quite like it in the whole of the US military, come to think of it. The thing is - it was a three piece military set, held together with civilian super-glue. When the glue fell out things started to unravel."

"We coped when he was ascended though." Sam reminded him, leaning forwards into his hold and resting her head on his shoulder.

Automatically his cheek came to rest on her soft, golden hair and he sighed softly before continuing. "Not really, someone replaced the glue with putty but it could never have been as strong. It was merely holding things together until the glue could be put back in place." He let out a large sigh now and hugged her tighter to himself. "Now the glue's gone for good, so have many of the ties holding it all together. All the bits, literally spread out across the galaxy."

By this time both of them had tears streaming down their faces. Sam pulled back slightly and Jack gently wiped the tears from her cheeks, first with one calloused thumb and then the other.

She subconsciously turned into the touch as the second thumb brushed her face.

Jack leaned forwards and placed a kiss on her forehead. When her eyes instinctively closed he moved his mouth to her temple and placed another kiss there. When he felt no resistance from the young woman he moved down her face, kissing away the tears.

He paused for a moment when he reached her mouth, silently asking permission to continue.

His question was answered a moment later when Sam brought her lips forward to meet his. They shared a tender, lingering kiss before Jack felt Sam gently pushing at his chest.

She leant back in his embrace so she could look into his eyes. "What are we doing?" she asked.

"Something we've wanted to do for a long, long time," he answered truthfully.

"But what about the regs?" she asked him, with a worried tinge in her voice.

"Think about it," he said softly. "Sam, they don't apply. I'm not in charge of you any more - heck, I'm not even based on the same planet as you most of the time. The regs aren't against us any more."

"Aren't against us any more," she repeated quietly. "You're sure?"

"Sure, I'm sure." Jack replied, leaning forwards to place a chaste kiss on her lips.

A momentary flicker of panic briefly passed across Sam's stunned face. She rapidly tried to get her thoughts in order, and her vocal cords to cooperate with her mouth. "But…" she began.

Jack interrupted. "Shhh," he said, gently kissing around her mouth, allowing her to speak if she needed to.

"Oh," she murmured, and she turned her face to his.

This was all the invitation Jack needed and he captured her lips with his own. Soon his tongue was gently probing, requesting entrance to her mouth and with a soft sigh she let him in. She wrapped her arms around his neck and slid the fingers of one hand into his short silver hair.

This was a moment that she had only dreamed about so many years before. Long, long ago she had locked it away - firmly in the realms of fantasy - believing that it would never become reality.

She didn't know if this was the start of something, or just a mutual reaction to a shared grief. They would have things to discuss later on, but for now she had this moment. Even if nothing came of it, at least she could look back and remember the day the she finally kissed Jack O'Neill.

#

Their peaceful moment was disturbed be a quietly uttered "O'Neill."

Teal'c, who had indeed had a very quick wash and freshen up, was standing a small distance behind the barbeque.

"I apologise for having to disturb you," he told them. "…but I believe that the portions of bovine animal protein are soon to become too well cooked for consumption."

The large man pointed to the grill and the well cooked steaks.

Jack looked to where the Jaffa was pointing. "Ah, damn. Good call, T."

Jack carefully extracted himself from Sam's arms. He grabbed some tongs and a plate, and deftly flipped the steaks onto the crockery. He gave them a quick once over before announcing, "Just as well everyone likes them well done. Nice save, T."

Teal'c nodded at the Colonel. "Indeed, O'Neill. I believe the two of you had your mind on other matters," he said in his usual matter-of-fact way. "Do you require me to take control of the cooking device for the rest of the evening?"

Jack felt Sam move away from behind him and heard a whispered chuckle as she pulled out a chair and sat down.

"Nah, Teal'c, we're cool," he told his large friend. "Let's eat what we've got here for the moment. I'll go and get the salad from inside."

He took the long route round the table in order to pass by Sam. He held out a hand to squeeze her shoulder as he passed and paused when she grasped his wrist.

"We OK?" he asked her.

"We're fine…Jack." she murmured, and let go of his arm so he could continue into the cabin.

Sam smiled to herself as she heard a quietly whispered, 'cool' as he turned away.

#


	21. Chapter 21

Sticks and Stones - Chapter 21 - by Emma Nisbet (grnfield)

When the three friends awoke the next day they vowed not to spend the day being maudlin. Jack said that he wanted to fish and Teal'c immediately, metaphorically turned his nose up at that.

Jack objected and jokingly told him to 'take a hike' to which Teal'c merely answered, "I believe I will, O'Neill. I found our walk of yesterday most enjoyable and am eager to explore this locality in many of the other directions. By what time am I required to return?"

Jack looked enquiringly at Sam who shrugged and said, "Up to you, Sir. I've got a book and I'm staying here to read it."

"OK, T." Jack said. "Lets say you get back here by 1700 hours."

Teal'c nodded his acknowledgement. "That will give me many hours, I will cover much ground in that time."

"Yeah," agreed Jack. "You know, if you're gonna be gone all day you might want to take something with you out of the fridge. You can't just go rustling up the local wildlife round here for a quick snack, it's much easier to take sandwiches."

Teal'c raised one eyebrow at Jack, obviously unable to decide whether the Colonel was making fun of him.

Sam took pity on the large alien and told him to follow her into the kitchen. She quickly made him a stack of sandwiches and packed them in a backpack along with a couple of bottles of drink, two apples, an orange, a pack of potato chips, some crackers, M&M's and a packet of Oreos.

"Carter," Jack called from the doorway where he was standing, leaning on the doorframe. "That'll do. He's going out for a couple of hours, not a few days. There's no chance of a blizzard at the moment so stop weighing the poor guy down."

"Sorry, Sir." she said automatically.

He gave he a stern look. "Saaam?" he said, dragging out her name deliberately.

"Sorry, Jaaack." she replied, knowing what he meant without him having to say it.

"That's better, now come on, let the poor guy go. I've got fishing to do." He pushed himself off the doorframe and went back outside.

"Many thanks, MajorCarter." Teal'c said to Sam, bowing to her as he did so. "I will see you at 1700 hours. I bid you a good day."

"See you later, Teal'c." Sam said, giving his huge bicep a friendly squeeze.

He followed Sam from the cabin and walked purposefully away, slinging the backpack over his shoulder as he went.

"See ya, T." Jack shouted at his retreating back. Teal'c raised an arm in acknowledgement but kept walking.

"Just how far do you reckon he can get and still be back here for five o'clock?" Jack asked Sam.

"Oh, I dread to think," she laughed. "…but I bet it'd be further than both you and me put together."

Jack chuckled, "That's kinda what I was thinking too. I betcha he gets back at exactly 1700 as well. Not a minute before, not a minute less."

"I'm not taking you up on that one," Sam laughed again, "I'd be guaranteed to lose. You going to get any fishing done today or are you just going to hang around here?

"Kinda depends on what you had planned." Jack told her. "I can always fish later if you prefer."

"I was thinking that I'd take my book to the dock and keep you company, that's if you don't mind?" She looked at him hopefully.

"Of course I don't. I'd be glad of the company." Jack said with a small smile. "Ladies first," he said, motioning towards the dock with sweeping gesture of his arm.

Sam rolled her eyes and walked past him, down towards the lake. Jack grabbed two chairs and took them with him as he followed her.

"Here you are, make yourself comfortable," he said. "I'll be back in a few minutes, I've got to get my fishing gear out of the boathouse over that way." He pointed at the little wooden shelter a little way around the small lake.

Sam sank into the chair and rested her book on her knee. She looked out across the water and let the peace and quiet settle over her.


	22. Chapter 22

Sticks and Stones - Chapter 22 - by Emma Nisbet (grnfield)

When Jack returned he found he found Sam gazing out across the pond, staring across the water at a spot about a million miles away.

"Penny for 'em," he said quietly.

His hushed words made her jump so he moved past Sam and sat down on the other chair. He turned to face her and took one of her hands gently in his own.

He looked her in the eye and asked softly, "Are you OK?"

She looked at him for a moment and bobbed her head a little. "Uhm…I'm not…I'm not sure…" she stopped, unable to form the words that she really wanted to say.

"Hey, it's only me. Talk to me, Sam." Jack said quietly, lifting her hand to his mouth and kissing the delicate knuckles. He could see tears shining in her eyes and his heart fluttered, wondering what had happened to upset this beautiful young woman.

"Talk to me," he begged. "Sam, please."

"It's just…all this," she waved her arm to cover the pair of them. "You, me, the kissing, the touching. What are we doing? Is this going somewhere or when we go home is it going to be like nothing happened? If that's what it is then I want it to stop…right now."

She jabbed one of the fingers on her free hand into his chest. "You can't play with my emotions like this. You know how I feel about you…how I've always felt about you. If this turns out to be just some weekend guilt trip thing to make you feel better then I just couldn't handle it. I'm not just some plaything that you can use when you see fit and then leave high and dry when you don't."

Sam's voice had jumped in pitch and the tears had broken free from her eyes. Jack stared at her, open mouthed, not entirely sure where all this had come from or where it was going. He'd done some heavy duty thinking overnight and it seemed that Sam had too.

Sam's thinking, the Colonel observed, had obviously gone off in a completely different direction to his own.

"We can't start anything now, any more than we could have done anytime in the last seven years. I'm going off-world all the time, I never know where I'm going to be from one week to the next. You…" she jabbed him again with her finger. "…you…you're virtually never on Earth. You hide away on the Alpha site and we don't hear from you for weeks on end. Then suddenly you pop up out of the blue, tell us we've got to book two weeks leave - which, I hasten to add wasn't easy to arrange at such short notice. Then we drive all the way here and you hardly say two words to me the whole way. To…to…to go and collect firewood and cook dinner. Then…then you kissed me and…and…"

At this point any last vestige of the self control that Sam had been clinging to left her, and she virtually threw herself into Jack's arms.

He gathered up the sobbing woman, clinging to her tightly. He slid the two of them down until they were sitting on the boards of the dock and slowly rocked her from side to side. He quietly murmured nonsense in her ear as he waited for the worst to pass and for her to become a little calmer.

#

He felt the moment that Sam came back to herself; a tenseness sprung into her body and she drew in a deep, ragged breath.

When she tried to push away from him, he only allowed her to go a short distance. He knew that this conversation needed to be brought to a proper close before the two of them next parted company. If it was left as it stood currently then the friendship that was so very important to the two of them would be forever sullied and the spark would never be able to be rekindled.

Jack allowed Sam to sit up fully when she pulled her hands free of his. She then buried her face in her arms and let out a long, frustrated wail. Jack realised that she was shivering and he reached behind him to snag a blanket that he'd fetched when he'd collected his fishing box earlier.

Carefully he wrapped the blanket around Sam's shoulders and she took her face out of her arms so she could grab the edges and tighten them around herself.

"Thanks," she whispered, using the corner of the blanket to wipe her eyes.

"S'Okay," he replied quietly, his thumb gently wiping away a smudge of mascara from under one of her eyes.

He turned the rub into a tender caress, which he was grateful to see that she allowed.

"Want to tell me where all that came from?" he asked softly. "I guess you were mulling things over and over all night? You could have always come and talk to me, whatever the time, I hate to think of you getting yourself so worked up. I know I'm not big on talking but this does kinda concern me to, you know? I knew I should'a spoken to you last night but with Teal'c there it just wasn't right. I thought things were OK, really I did. I'd have never left it if I'd realised how upset you were."

"Last night," Sam let out a short, choked laugh. "I wasn't upset last night, quite the opposite in fact."

"What d'ya mean?" Jack asked, frowning slightly in confusion.

"Last night was…well, totally unexpected." Sam admitted. "I buried my feelings for you deep down, so many years ago, that it seemed almost surreal to be kissing you. When I went to bed my mind was racing and I couldn't stop thinking over different scenarios in my head,. I kept remembering you asking me if we were OK, then turning to go inside. I guess after lying there for hours with my brain in top gear that it seemed like that was the end of it. After I'd had a taste of something that I'd previously thought was firmly in my dreams…well the thought that it might not have meant anything to you…it was just too much to handle. After a while all I could see was you turning away and leaving me."

She let out a sob and buried her face back into her, now blanket covered, arms.

"And you didn't feel you could come and speak to me?" Jack said, mortified that he'd upset Sam in this way. He'd offered the shoulder squeeze as a reassuring gesture but Sam's overactive imagination had obviously translated it into something completely different. He wanted to see her eyes when he explained this to her but he recognised her need to hide in the blanket. Instead he raised his left hand and gently stroked her hair while he spoke to her. "Sam, I would never intentionally do anything to hurt you. I'd hope you'd know that that after all these years. I didn't plan on kissing you yesterday, Sam, it just happened. I don't regret that it did, but I do regret not talking to you last night, or at the very least, first thing this morning."

Her face flew up from it's hiding place and she looked straight into his eyes. "No. Don't blame yourself, Jack, please. Logically I know that I should have come to talk to you last night, but the logic part of me was too busy being crushed by my heart to make me see since. I still don't know what's going on between us though, I don't know what you want from me."

She adjusted her grip on the blanket and drew her knees up closer to her chest. She wrapped the blanket tighter around herself and rested her chin on her knees to wait for his reply.

"Sam…where do I start? I wish I had Daniel's way with words at times like these." Jack paused and looked up at the sky, rapidly trying to collect his thoughts and feelings together. "I knew you had feelings for me years ago, but I thought that was all in the past. I said that I didn't mean to kiss you and I meant it. Even if I'd planned it, I wouldn't for one moment have expected you to reciprocate. I'm not a young man any more, Sam. I'm a cranky old Colonel with dodgy knees and no command. I'm pretty much never on the planet and my history in relationships ain't been that hot in the last eight years or so. For the life of me I can't see what someone in their prime of life - like you - would see in someone like me. I'm certainly past my best and all I've got to look forward to in my future is retirement."

Jack stopped and his head dropped dejectedly to his chest.

Sam was stunned - how could the man she loved with all her heart have such a low opinion or himself?

Tears slowly coursed down her face as she untangled her arm from the blanket. She reached out her hand and stroked the side of Jack's face.

When he didn't move she gently lifted his chin, forcing his eyes to meet her own. She could see that his eyes were filled with unshed tears and she swiped at her own with her other, still blanket covered, hand.

"How can you say that?" she asked. "There are so many people who'd give their right arm to have seen some of the things you've seen, to visit some of the amazing places that you…we've been to. So many people admire you. The men look up to you and the women - well, I'll admit that I'm probably the leading member of the Jack O'Neill fan club." She let out a little chuckle, "How can you be so blind as to not notice the number of women who turn away when you walk past?"

"I don't think so, Sam. I think you're imagining that. I'm old now, hell, I'm almost completely grey - the white's starting up with a vengeance round here." He gestured to the area above his ears with a wave of his hand.

Sam took her hand from his chin and captured his as he dropped it towards his lap.

She brought it to her lips and kissed it softly. "It's not grey, it's silver…and it's lovely.

She dropped her eyes and blushed, "Sorry, that made me sounds like some school girl with a silly crush."

"Hey," he said, as she raised her eyes to look at him again. "It works for me," he said with a chuckle. "You're quite sure it's me you're thinking of like that? You're not confusing me with someone else? Someone more…worthy?"

"No," she laughed. "It's definitely you. It always has been…right from the very beginning."

"Love at first sight?" Jack asked with a twinkle in his eye.

"Something like that, yeah," Sam answered seriously. "Thing is, the regs were always in the way - the chain of command problem was always there. There was no way I would have ever said or done anything to jeopardise the team - that had to take priority at all times - so my personal feelings had to take second place."

"You're a strong woman, Samantha Carter. Way stronger than most, I reckon," he told her. "It is true you know, what I said about the regs - they no longer apply to us."

He raised their clasped hands to his face and, in a copy of her earlier gesture, gently kissed her small, delicate knuckles.

"So, the question is, what do you want to do about it, Sam?" he asked tenderly.

"What I want, and what's practical at the moment, are two completely different things." Sam told him. "What I want is you - completely and in every way. That's just not possible at the moment while we work when and where we do. You're all set up at the Alpha site and with the Goa'uld threat still out there I couldn't justify not going out, looking for ways to defeat them and allies to help us." She sighed, "I don't know, will something always be in the way? It's not like we can turn our backs and pretend that there's nothing out there - that it's all safe in out little corner of the universe - now is it?"

"No, that we can't do," he agreed. "I wouldn't worry too much about my being at the Alpha site causing a problem - I'd give that up in an instant if you asked me to, but with you off the planet so often there wouldn't be much point for the time being. I couldn't, in all good conscience, ask you to stop going out with SG-2 and I wouldn't, it's not my place to do so. Realistically you guys could be vital in finding a solution to the threat from the Goa'uld. Who knows what the future holds, we may defeat them next week or not in either of our lifetimes. Do we need to keep fighting? Yes. Does the universe owe us a huge honkin' favour? Yes. Should we risk putting our lives on hold for a potentially never-ending battle? Hell, Sam - how can I answer that one?"

"You can't," Sam answered sadly. "There is no right answer."

"No, there's not. I don't know about you but I'd settle for a compromise - snatching odd moments of happiness in quiet times with a promise that when the Goa'uld are finally defeated, or at least not a threat any longer - then you stop going through the gate and I retire." Jack looked at her hopefully, trying to gauge her reaction.

"Oh, my," a clearly shocked Sam replied. "You do realise how difficult that's going to be? This is the first time we've really managed to spend a decent amount of time together since Teal'c and myself joined SG-2."

"Honestly though, Sam. Have any of us really had any reason to try?" Jack asked. "I certainly haven't. I'll admit that it's hard to come back to Earth and know that you and Teal'c are out there somewhere under someone else's command, to know that I'm not there looking after you both. I know it was my decision but it's still hard. Also I've not had anything to come back here for so I've tended not to bother. Staying on the Alpha site as much as possible just seems easier all round," he admitted sadly.

"So are you saying that you'd come back more often if you had a reason to? A reason like me?" Sam asked, not quite sure if she was believing what she was hearing.

"Sure I would." Jack said. "I'm not saying it's going to be easy but I'm willing to give it a shot, if you are too."

"Of course I am," Sam cried. "But what exactly are we talking about? Booking leave together I can understand but I don't want to turn this into some secret little affair - sneaking off the moment people's backs are turned."

"Carter," Jack snapped. "Where's that overactive imagination of yours taking you now?"

"What?" Sam answered back, confused by his sudden outburst.

"I'm not talking about starting some sordid affair with you - sneaking off to jump in the sack every chance we get. I want to do this properly. I want to wine you, dine you - romance you. As for this being a secret…let me spell this out VERY clearly; This-does-not-need-to-be-a-secret. Why, in God's name, would I want to keep the fact that we were in a relationship a secret?" he asked. "Half the SGC think that we've been together for years anyway. I think most people would see it for what it is - something that can develop now the chain of command is no longer an issue. They'll be happy for us, Sam, of that I'm certain."

"Oh," Sam breathed. "Wow."

"Good Wow?" Jack asked, cocking an eyebrow towards her.

"Really good Wow!" Sam replied. "We're really going to give this a go? Me and you?"

"Me and you…for as long as we've got." Jack promised. "We'll take it slow, find our feet, work out our schedules to spend as much time together as we can. You go out and kick some serious Goa'uld butt then we can get married and start a proper life together. Until then we'll take what time we can get, when we can grab it, agreed?"

"Ma…ma…married?" Sam stuttered. "Me and you?"

"No, me and Teal'c." Jack said. "Of course, me and you…You do want that - right? I really do want to do this properly. Samantha Carter, I want you to be my wife. Either when the Goa'uld threat is over or when we're both too old for gate travel. I want to make it all official, please tell me you want that too."

"Oh, of course I do. It was just a shock, that's all. So does that mean that the sooner we defeat the Goa'uld, the sooner we can get married?" she asked with a grin.

"Sure does," Jack confirmed. "As if Earth needed another excuse to dislike the Goa'uld - holding up your wedding has got to be one of the most unique!"

Sam gave him one of her mega-watt smiles and threw her arms around his neck, hugging him tight.

Jack hugged her back briefly before he gently pulled her arms from around his neck. He clasped her face between both his hands and looked earnestly into her eyes.

"You absolutely sure about this?" he asked. "Completely 100 certain?"

"Yes, absolutely." Sam cried, tears of joy now rolling down her face. "I've never been more certain about anything in my life."

"Well, I guess…I guess this mean's that we're engaged," he said.

He leant forwards and kissed her passionately. She responded with a contented sigh and returned the kiss with a fiery passion.


	23. Chapter 23

Sticks and Stones - Chapter 23 - by Emma Nisbet (grnfield)

When the overriding need to breathe forced the two to part, Sam pulled away slightly. Jack captured her head in his hands and rested their foreheads together for a moment.

"I love you, Sam," he murmured quietly.

"I love you too," came her whispered reply.

Jack drew her into a tight hug and she melted into the embrace. They stayed like that for a short while until they both realised they were still sitting on the dock boards, in front of the chairs, with the blanket now tangled around Sam's waist.

"Maybe we'd better move?" Jack suggested. "You want to go inside?"

"What about your fishing?" Sam asked him.

"Kinda lost the urge for it now," he replied. "It's a bit early in the day for a celebratory drink but could I tempt you with a coffee?"

He raised himself to his feet and then held his hand out to help her up.

"Coffee sounds great," she said, taking his hand but not letting go once she'd got to her feet. They walked back to the cabin together, hand in hand, and when they entered the kitchen, Sam leant against him with their knotted hands pressed close between his chest.

Jack looked down at their entwined hands, smiling broadly.

"Well, you did say you were romantic," Sam reminded him.

"I did, didn't I?" he looked at her and chuckled.

"What?" Sam asked with a smile on her face. "What are you thinking?"

"I was just wondering what Teal'c would think if he could see us now." Jack laughed. "Mind you, knowing Teal'c he'd probably slap me on the back and say something along the lines of 'about time O'Neill'. You know what he's like, he's probably had us made since day one."

"You're telling him, by the way," Sam informed her new fiancé.

"Deal," he agreed. "As long as you tell Jacob, preferably when I'm safely back at the Alpha site, well out of his way. I'm not sure he's going to be well pleased by your choice for his future son-in-law."

"Don't be silly. You know Dad already thinks of you like an adopted son anyway, and Selmak likes you too." Sam reminded him.

"Well I'm kinda banking on Selmak keeping Jacob off my back." Jack admitted. "I'm sure he'd rather you marry someone who's younger and got better prospects. Even someone who can give you kids - if that's what you want. You need to realise that's something I can't do, Sam."

"Wha…kids?" she gulped. "Why…why wouldn't you want to have kids…because…because of…"

"Charlie?" Jack finished for her. "You can say his name, Sam. He's part of me and he always will be, no matter what happens in the future. But, no, it's not because of Charlie. I didn't say I wouldn't want to have more children, I said I can't - as in physically."

"Oh," Sam gasped, her eyes opening very wide.

"No, don't get me wrong - everything works 'down there'," he gave a vague wave in the direction of his nether regions. "I just can't make babies any more. A combination of chemicals that I was exposed to in Iraq destroyed any chance of us having a little brother or sister for Charlie. We tried for years - Sara and I - but the doctors couldn't help us. They told us 'be glad for the son you've got because many of the people who come here for our help will never be so lucky.' So we were grateful, and Charlie was our special little boy. The whole family adored him. He was the first and only 'grandchild O'Neill' and the first grandson in Sara's family. The fact that he'd be the only one by the two of us meant that he was spoiled by everyone. That's the one consolation I have - in his short life Charlie knew the complete and total love of his family. When he died the hole he left in everyone's lives was devastating. My mother never got over it. She died not two months after Charlie and she went to her grave with a broken heart. My Dad always said she went to be with him - that she went to look after Charlie for me. I don't think he ever did realise just how close I came to following them both. If it hadn't been for Abydos - and Daniel - I probably would have done."

Jack stopped and rubbed at his eyes. He then wrapped his arms around Sam's shoulders and placed a kiss in her hair.

"So you see, I'll never be able to give you children," he told her truthfully. "…even if we defeat the Goa'uld tomorrow. Sam, I've had years to come to terms with the fact that I'll never be a father again, and after Sara left I honestly never thought the issue would come up again."

Jack had never told anyone the full story behind Laira and her proposition to him while he was stranded on Edora. Laira hadn't want to leave Edora with him once the SGC had finally got back to the planet and in a bittersweet way he'd been relieved that he couldn't have fathered a child while trapped there. He couldn't have abandoned his own son or daughter to be raised without a father and there was no way he was going to leave Earth or SG-1 either.

"Oh, oh, I'm sorry. I don't know what to say." Sam said in dismay. "I must admit, I've thought about having children, I think all women do it at some time during their lives - clock is ticking and all that stuff. I've also wondered what our - yours and mine - what our children would be like. In my dreams, when we got together, well, kids just automatically followed…but…but that's just dreams. It's you I want…it's you I love. If we can't have kids then that's something to deal with in the future. Our future…together."

Jack leaned down and placed a chaste kiss on Sam's lips. "You are an amazing woman. Samantha Carter. Do you realise how lucky I feel that you chose me?"

Sam blushed, "Not half as lucky as I feel right now. I'm exactly where I've dreamed of being."

"What?" asked Jack, with a chuckle. "In the kitchen of my cabin?"

"No, you silly man," she replied, slapping his chest lightly with her hand. "Here…in your arms."

"Oh," he said, as he snuggled her in tighter to him. "Is that right?"

"Yep, that's right." Sam announced, then she raised her face to Jack's and kissed him gently on the lips. "However long it takes, and no matter what has to be done to defeat the Goa'uld, I vow to help do it so I can spend the rest of my days, here in the arms of my gorgeous, silver haired husband."

Colour flooded into Jack's cheeks. "You're blushing," Sam teased him.

"It's your fault, you're making me blush." Jack complained, light-heartedly. "Now that just won't do at all. I'm a Colonel in the USAF for Christ's sake, Air Force Colonel's do not blush. Now I'm going to kiss you to shut you up, that OK with you?"

Jack paused with a grin on his face. He waited just long enough for Sam to open her mouth to speak and then pounced. She met him half way and the pair shared a long passionate kiss.

When they parted for breath they embraced once more before Jack cuddled Sam into the left hand side of his body. He filled the coffee machine up and set it going using only his right hand, keeping Sam snuggled close by his side the whole time.

The rest of the morning was spent in the cabin, talking and just generally 'hanging out'.

#

After lunch both Sam and Jack moved outside and back down to the dock. Jack finally set up his fishing gear and Sam retrieved the book that she'd abandoned that morning.

The two sat side by side in the twin chairs at the end of the dock. Jack fished and Sam read.

Every now and then one of them would reach out a hand to the other and many tender looks and gentle kisses were shared.

When Teal'c returned, at exactly 5pm, Sam and Jack just looked at each other and burst out laughing. The large Jaffa failed to see the funny side of it, even after they explained their 'non-bet' to him.

What he did notice was a change in either the attitude, or the body language of his two friends. He enquired how their day had been, stating that they both seemed to be in a 'most tranquil mood'.

Jack told Teal'c much of what he and Sam had discussed that morning and the quiet man assured him he was very happy for the pair of them. He also voiced the opinion that 'DanielJackson would also have been most pleased by the news'.

Jack suggested a toast to that effect before they started preparations for dinner.


	24. Chapter 24

Sticks and Stones - Chapter 24 - by Emma Nisbet (grnfield)

A great deal of alcohol was consumed by the human contingent at the barbeque. Teal'c insisted on taking over the cooking as he told Jack, "O'Neill, you are clearly too inebriated to be safely operating the cooking device at this time."

Jack took one look at the sombre man and chuckled drunkenly. He handed to tongs to Teal'c and staggered over to drop down in the chair next to Sam's.

"You know, T? He's no fun," he told her seriously.

Looking at him fondly, she replied, "He's just looking out for you."

"More time for me to look out for you," the tipsy Colonel answered, grabbing her hand and kissing from her palm, all the way up to her elbow.

Sam dissolved in a fit of giggles at this and playfully slapped him away. Teal'c chose this moment to appear with the, now cooked, steaks.

He gently pushed Jack to a sitting position at the back of his chair and placed a plate on the other man's knee. When he turned to do the same to Sam he found that she'd already sat up neatly and was waiting for him to pass her plate of steak and salad.

He handed it to her and, with a small bow, walked back to the grill to retrieve his own meal.

#

By the time everyone had eaten their fill, Jack and Sam had sobered up considerably. Jack announced a last toast to Daniel, which was held with large mugs of strong coffee.

The three friends held their mugs to the sky in a salute to their fallen comrade.

Jack sent up a silent message to the stars, "Daniel, wherever you are, I hope you approve of the arrangements that we made this morning. I'd like to think you'd have been happy for us." Then silently repeated his personal prayer to Daniel. "Goodbye Daniel, my friend…my best friend. You will never be forgotten."

#

The three tidied away the remains of their meal and went inside where they took turns using the bathroom.

Jack caught Sam at her bedroom door and the pair shared a long, lingering goodnight kiss before they separated for the night.

Jack waited until Sam had closed her bedroom door before he did a last check of all the external doors and windows. He nodded to Teal'c who was preparing for Kel'no'reem near the fireplace in the sitting room.

The Jaffa bid him a quiet 'Goodnight O'Neill' and the silver haired man walked slowly to his room where he stripped down to his T-shirt and boxers. He climbed into bed and settled down to a peaceful nights sleep filled with many pleasant dreams.


	25. Chapter 25

Sticks and Stones – Chapter 25 - by Emma Nisbet (grnfield)

Three months later

The fledgling relationship between Sam and Jack was going better than either of them had expected. It turned out to be relatively easy for Jack to arrange his schedules to enable the pair to meet up when Sam was on Earth.

They were in the middle of a ten day vacation to Wichita Falls in Texas. Jack had rented a small plane and had flown them out for a break away from the stresses and strains of their everyday lives.

The trip, to a rented cabin, was just long enough for them to relax and reconnect with each other on a more personal level than their life within the SGC usually allowed.

They took long walks around the area feeling at peace with the natural beauty surrounding them. In the evenings they sat on the porch of their rental property, chatting about the unexpected turns that their lives had taken.

One evening, Sam had told Jack about the last mission that she had been on with SG-2. The next night Jack made her laugh regaling tales of the recruits that he'd been training. Jokingly he told her that he didn't have a clue how some of them had even scraped through basic training, let alone being sent to him for more advanced instruction. Jack was supposed to get these youngsters prepared for active off-world fieldwork but he admitted that some of them would never make the grade and would end up being sent back to Earth for reassignment.

Sam kissed him and told him that if he could turn Daniel into a soldier, then he could train anyone. Remembering the long haired youth who used to trip over his own feet when he'd first joined the team brought a sad smile to both their faces.

The silver haired Colonel returned Sam's kiss and falteringly told her that she was 'nuts' if she thought he was solely responsible for Daniel's transformation from 'Uber Geek' to 'Super Soldier'. He reminded her of all the hours that she and Teal'c had put in to getting Daniel field trained to a standard that the Air Force would find acceptable.

She agreed that they had all put in a lot of time for Daniel's training but quietly told him that a large part of Daniel's motivation had been to gain Jack's trust and respect. Daniel would never have admitted it but he revered Jack and it was vital to the brilliant young man that the Colonel held a high opinion of him.

Jack grimaced at this and admitted to Sam that he'd taken an instant dislike to Daniel when they'd first been introduced. He'd reminded Jack so much of Charlie, his recently deceased son, that it was painful for the Colonel to look at him. He'd tried hard to block the scientist's access to the gate and had only taken him on the first mission because he'd been ordered to.

Once on Abydos, Daniel had been mocked and ridiculed by Jack's own team and the older man had been astounded at the young man's ability to shake off the teasing. He'd been dumbfounded at Daniel's devotion to duty when he'd calmly spoken to the Abydonian people just minutes after being dragged through the desert by a big, smelly cow-like beast. The fact that, only a short time later, he'd willingly sacrificed himself for someone who clearly despised him had literally taken Jack's breath away.

By the time it came to leave the desert planet, Jack had had a hard time coming to terms with leaving Daniel behind. The action went totally against everything he stood for. He knew that Daniel had no reason to return to Earth, he had no family and his career was in tatters, but even though the Colonel saw every reason that Daniel had for staying, it didn't make the separation any easier.

When Jack had returned home, he'd found that Sara had left him and all he had to go back to was an empty house. He told Sam that he wished he'd stayed behind as well. He was certain that Kawalsky and Ferretti would have covered for him, in the same way the while team had covered for Daniel.

True, he may have lived out his days as a nomad on a distant planet but he wouldn't have been alone. He'd have had the companionship of Kasuf and the other elders and he'd have even had some sort of kin with his adopted family of Skaara, Daniel and Sha're.

He sighed as he told her he'd often wondered what would have happened if he'd stayed behind. Would Daniel have ever asked to unbury the Stargate? If he hadn't then Skaara and Sha're would have never been taken. Skaara would have married his young love from a neighbouring tribe and eventually taken over Kasuf's position as Chieftain. Sha're and Daniel would than likely have had a big brood of children and Jack was certain that the bespectacled man wouldn't have managed to turn him grey so young.

He looked so melancholy as he spoke about this to Sam that she simply sat next to him and remained quiet. After a while she reached out and gently stroked his face.

He turned to her and she looked into his eyes. There was a vast depth of grief buried deeply inside those shining, brown orbs - grief at an opportunity missed and the loss of what might have been. She didn't know what to say to ease his pain so she leaned forwards, wrapped her arms around him and pulled him into a tight hug. He buried his face in her neck and returned the embrace, sighing deeply.

They stayed in the embrace for a short while before Jack sat back on his chair. "I'm sorry," he told her. "It's something I've thought about a lot. If Daniel'd never unburied the gate on Abydos then we'd've never met Apophis and had the problems with the Goa'uld that we've had. Earth would have still been safely 'lost' to them and Abydos would have been cut off like it had been before we arrived."

Sam leaned forwards and stroked Jack's short silver hair.

"And Daniel would have still been alive?" she asked, quietly.

"Yeah," Jack chuckled. "With lots of little mini-Daniels running around driving everyone insane, just like their father."

"I'd have loved to see that," Sam agreed. "I bet he was a sweet child."

"Me too, Sam." Jack said sadly. "You know, he'd have made a great father. After the childhood he'd had he'd've done anything to keep his children safe and well."

"I'm sure he would have done. You mean because of losing his parents?" Sam asked. "He's never really spoken to me about it. I only know how they died because of the Keeper incident...Oh, and obviously I know that his grandfather didn't want him."

"He didn't like talking about his childhood - brought back too many bad memories. From the little bits I did get out of him, it sounded like his childhood pretty much ended the day his parents died. He was pretty much on his own from the age of eight onwards. He'd been born and raised in Egypt, travelling with his parents from one dig-site to another and only used to living in tents. Suddenly he was alone, in a foreign country with completely different rules and customs and he didn't cope well with it at all. His spoke English well enough but his first language was Arabic and he'd revert back to that when he was tired or upset. The father in his first foster family tried to beat it out of him and when he was removed from that home he stopped speaking all together and this just alienated him further from the people who could help him. He was a mute, gifted child, floating through the foster system and it seems that no one was willing to take the time to try and find out more about him. He went from home to home and eventually became an emancipated minor at the age of 15 after he'd started college."

"I didn't realise. Poor Daniel." Sam said, clearly upset.

Jack leaned forwards and placed a kiss on her forehead. She automatically wrapped her arms around him and snuggled down into his chest.

"Once I found out about his history all I could think about was Charlie, the two of them looked so alike. It upset me a lot that something like that could have happened to my own son if I hadn't got back from Iraq and something'd happened to Sara. Then I'd look at my life and realise that my family were all around me and that meant Charlie would never be alone. I'd get to wishing that Daniel'd had the chance to come and live with my family when he was younger. We'd always had plenty of land and I'm sure my mother would have loved him like one of us. Strange thing is, Daniel himself never seemed bitter about it. I think it used to upset me more than it did him, but I guess he'd had most of his life to accept it. Once I found out that his Grandfather was still alive...well I've always kinda wanted to kick Nick's ass for letting it happen - he was the one person who'd had the power to stop it and he did nothing."

"I don't blame you. Can't say I took to the man myself either." Sam agreed. "Daniel couldn't have turned out much better than he did though. I've never met a gentler, kinder hearted man. Going through something like that, he could have easily fallen in with the bad crowd and no one would have been any the wiser. I wonder if anyone would have cared..."

"The main thing is though, he didn't. He overcame all the problems that his life threw at him and became the vibrant young man that we grew to love. A man with a great love of life, who liked to show kindness and respect to all men. It's a shame that he had to be taught to use a gun - to be taught to kill – I know he never liked that aspect of the job, but he realised that it was essential for him to know."

Sam nodded her agreement, "No, he never liked the thought of having to maim someone but he told me he knew it could be used to save life as well. That was how he justified it to himself, the handling of weapons, I mean."

"That sounds like our Daniel...take something fundamentally awful - like having to carry a loaded weapon - and turn it into something more acceptable. That man could talk his way round anything." Jack said with a chuckle.

"He sure could," Sam agreed, smiling tenderly at Jack. He smiled back and drew her in for a kiss.

When they parted Sam commented that dusk was falling. Jack suggested that they stroll down to the local bar to get a drink before settling in for the night.

Sam agreed it would be a nice way to finish the evening and the pair set off down the road, hand in hand.

#

They enjoyed the rest of their vacation but before long it was time to leave and return to their, mostly separate, lives with Stargate Command.

They had a quiet flight home, Jack enjoying the liberated feeling of flying the small plane and Sam enjoying watching him.

Sam was scheduled to go on a month long, diplomatic mission the following week. Jack agreed to make arrangements to return to Earth the week after that so they could spend the weekend together. That way if the mission overran a little then their plans shouldn't be affected.

At the airport, they picked up Jack's truck and drove back to his house where Sam had left her car. It was a solemn trip back to Jack's, both of them were deep in thought, hoping that one day they'd not have to separate when they returned home. When Jack retired and the Goa'uld were defeated then they'd finally be free to marry and settle down. Until then, they'd have to make do with any peaceful times that they could garner in their all too hectic lives.


	26. Chapter 26

Sticks and Stones – Chapter 26 - by Emma Nisbet (grnfield)

The diplomatic mission that Sam was on took less time than expected. SG-2 was back on Earth just three weeks after Jack went back to the Alpha site.

A week after they returned, the SGC received a report from the Tok'ra of an alliance being formed between the System Lords, Ba'al and Osiris. The Tok'ra had operatives planted inside a couple of Ba'al's many bases and they had both corroborated the story that the two System Lords were allied with one another.

General Hammond asked whether the Tok'ra were aware of the whereabouts of either of the Goa'uld at the present time but he was informed that unfortunately they did not. However they told him that a Ha'tak vessel had recently left the base occupied by one of the hidden Tok'ra and that both System Lords were aboard at the time.

Until they had more intel on the whereabouts of the Ha'tak there was nothing that either the SGC or the Tok'ra could do. Both sides agreed to keep each other appraised as to any findings and to ask their many allies to inform them if they should hear any rumours as to the whereabouts of either Ba'al or Osiris.

#

The following week the SGC received an emergency transmission from Chamaka. This was a lush, fertile planet designated P4M-776, SG-5 had visited it a couple of years before. Up against a lot of cultures they'd encountered, the inhabitants of Chamaka were relatively advanced. The Chamakan people were few in number but had a solid knowledge of basic building and technology and had developed some highly advanced medicines from their local plant-life. They had been more than willing to share their medical knowledge with the Tau'ri. In return the humans had shown them designs to strengthen their buildings and supplied them with schematics that could improve much of their technology.

The Chamakans had kept in touch with the SGC at regular intervals but they had missed their last scheduled contact. If they'd missed the next then the SGC would have sent a team to investigate and to check that the gentle people were indeed alright.

The message from Chamaka was extremely brief, the wormhole engaged and a radio transmission began immediately. The voice of Khyoni, one of the botanists who had shared his knowledge with the Tau'ri, was heard frantically pleading for their help. Before the transmission cut out he managed to tell them that a 'huge triangular ship' had been sighted flying low over the continent and 'large, armoured warriors' were now raiding the villages and taking the occupants hostage.

A scrabbling sound was heard and the transmission briefly broke up. When the signal returned, the listening humans at the SGC could hear Jaffa warriors issuing orders and Khyoni shouting as he was dragged away. They could only assume that the young man had locked his radio into transmit mode and dropped it when the Jaffa approached him.

General Hammond ordered that Walter page SG's 2 and 3 and have them report to the briefing room without delay. As he left the control room he spotted Sergeant Siler and requested that a MALP be prepared for immediate deployment. He then went to the meeting room to wait for SG-2 and SG-3.

#

The two teams rushed to the briefing room as soon as they received the request. The nine men and women quickly seated themselves around the large table and turned to look at the General.

George Hammond addressed the teams with a grim look on his face. He quickly explained what he knew of the situation on Chamaka and informed them that a MALP would be sent through the gate as soon as they were able to do so. He hoped they'd be able to get a clearer picture of how many Jaffa were guarding the gate in a hope that the two teams could safely go in and carry out a recon of the immediate area prior to carrying out a mission to rescue the Chamakan people.

The General was interrupted by a knock on the door. Walter entered, apologised for interrupting, and informed the base commander that the MALP was ready for deployment.

Hammond ordered that the gate be dialled without delay and the teams stood as he rose and left the room.

The wormhole engaged in its normal fashion and very soon, Siler was directing the MALP up the ramp and into the event horizon. Colonels Ferretti and Reynolds, plus Sam, Teal'c and Hammond, crowded around the view-screen and waited for the MALP to begin transmitting.

The picture soon appeared on the screen and showed that the ground at the bottom of the steps had been churned up by many frantic footsteps. A few crude clubs lay on the ground as well as a discarded staff weapon. As the Sergeant directed the MALP to scan the clearing it was became clear that there was a large fire in the distance and Sam quickly pointed out that it was roughly in the location of the nearest village.

Colonel Reynolds questioned the wisdom of burning the villages when they contained food, medicines and accommodation that the Jaffa could use.

Teal'c looked down at the young Colonel and explained that the houses would have been looted before being torched and that the Jaffa warriors had no need for comfort. They believed that comfort would make the warriors weak and less observant in their duties, so the Jaffa had only the most basic of accommodation at all times. This was a standard protocol that was constantly observed but especially while they were out in enemy territory.

The large Jaffa then pointed out that it was also a tactic used to increase submission in any captured people. They would have seen their homes and villages being defiled by the Jaffa and know there was nowhere for them to return to if they tried to escape.

Teal'c then looked back at the view-screen and pointed out a small movement. Two Jaffa were approaching from the wooded area to the right of the gate. They were heading towards the MALP at a fast run, presumably alerted by the activation of the gate. Before they reached the gate they stopped, primed their staff weapons and blasted the Tau'ri equipment into pieces.

The humans around the view-screen flinched as the MALP met its fate. Teal'c merely raised an eyebrow and turned away from the now static filled display.

The General looked around at the gathered team members, "Let's take this back to the briefing room people, there's no more to be seen here."

One by one they filed out of the cramped control room and left Walter free to roll back to his usual station.

#

Back in the briefing room the other team members were waiting. The General took his usual seat at the head of the table and waited for Ferretti and Reynolds to fill their other members in on what they'd seen on the MALP. He then leaned forwards and addressed the room.

"Well people, now that we've seen the situation around the gate it's safe to say that the young man, Khyoni, was correct in taking the risk to contact ourselves. There didn't seem to be any bodies in the clearing even though a skirmish had obviously taken place, therefore I would think it's safe to assume the Chamakans have been taken prisoner by whichever Goa'uld was onboard the Ha'tak that Khyoni reported. Teal'c you wouldn't happen to know which Goa'uld it is that we're dealing with here?"

Teal'c nodded briefly before replying. "Indeed I do, GeneralHammond. The two Jaffa warriors who destroyed the probe were both bearing the mark of the false god Ba'al."

"Ba'al," exclaimed Colonel Reynolds. "We've been searching the galaxy and not heard a peep from him and then he goes and drops himself right in our laps – who'd have thought it?"

"Who indeed," agreed Lou Ferretti. "What do you reckon they want with all the people, Teal'c?"

"I would surmise they may be using them as forced labour." Teal'c replied. "There were deposits of Naquadah buried in the hills on the far side of the continent, were there not? I believe the deduction was made that it would be impossible to mine the ore using Tau'ri machinery due to the terrain in which it lay. Would it not be feasible to assume that the Goa'uld are using the Chamakans to mine the ore?"

"Yeah, you're right Teal'c," Sam agreed. "There was Naquadah ore on the planet and a great deal of it from what I remember. Wasn't it decided that the only way to mine it would be opencast and it would have destroyed too much of the surrounding area in the process? There were several large towns that would have had to be abandoned to build the mine and the Chamakans would never have agreed to that. I can't say I blame them either, it would have been thousands of years of their heritage being destroyed for the sake of a mineral that was of no interest to them at all."

"That's correct Major Carter. The medical knowledge that the Chamakans shared with us was more than enough to keep the NID scientists happy and it was agreed that the suggestion of mining would be detrimental to any alliance in the future."

The General steepled his fingers and tapped them to his lips thoughtfully.

He looked over at the large Jaffa sitting placidly over the other side of the table. "Teal'c, would it be safe to assume there would be more Jaffa to accompany the two we saw before the MALP was destroyed?"

"Indeed it would, GeneralHammond." Teal'c replied. "I would expect there to be another four Jaffa somewhere nearby. A contingent of six warriors is usual for a task such as this; there will most probably be six Jaffa in each village until there is no-one left. The village will then be plundered before being razed to the ground." The large man paused and shook his head sadly, "It is a most disagreeable process."

"I'm sure it is, Teal'c. I'm sure it is. Now we're going to see if we can do anything for these people. We're assuming there are only six Jaffa but I'm taking no chances. Colonel Ferretti, Colonel Reynolds, I want your teams ready to go as soon as possible. I'll have two teams of marines to go with you and I want every possible precaution taken. Your goal is to go through, and take control of the gate. Once you inform us that the gate is secure, Sergeant Siler will launch a volley of UAV's through and we'll try to get an idea what's going on further afield. You'll head for the village and check out the situation there. Watch out for Chamakan refugees, if you find any then you get them back here as soon as you can. The temporary accommodation will be open and the infirmary will be standing ready to receive casualties. I'll not pretend this is going to be an easy one, you'll be walking into a war zone so stay sharp. That's all for now, dismissed."

The Colonels gathered their teams together and went to their appropriate locker rooms to get ready.

Very soon they were ready to go and the two teams met up again in the gate room where the marines were waiting for them. Sergeant Siler was off to one side setting up the UAVs and Sam knelt down to speak to him while the final preparations were made for dialling the gate.

A few minutes later the General's booming voice came over the comms. "SG-2, SG-3, you have your orders. We'll await your signal then send through the UAVs. Good luck people, and remember - no unnecessary risks." He looked behind him and spoke to Walter, "Dial it up, Sergeant."

The teams stood, watching the gate, as Walter announced each chevron. Moments after the seventh chevron locked into place the wormhole burst forwards.

"SG teams, you have a go," called the General. "God Speed."

Salutes were given and returned and the seventeen military officers trooped quickly up the ramp. Siler caught Sam's eye as she passed and nodded to her supportively, she sent him a small worried smile in return before stepping through the event horizon.

The General watched as the last of the marines went through and the gate shut down. He let out a deep breath and raised his eyes towards the heavens and offered a silent prayer. 'Please, let them all come home safe.'

He then turned, requested that Walter come and find him as soon as they heard anything and walked slowly into his office.


	27. Chapter 27

Sticks and Stones – Chapter 27 - by Emma Nisbet (grnfield)

Upon exiting the wormhole on Chamaka, the SGC personnel immediately came under fire. The two Jaffa guarding the gate were quickly eliminated, as were the two who came running when they heard weapons fire. They were completely unprepared for the vast number of Tau'ri who came through the gate and as such, only managed to inflict injury to one marine. A lucky shot to the leg of Sergeant Marshall was all the Jaffa managed before being slain.

The uninjured SGC members fanned out around the clearing while Sam dialled the gate back to Earth. It was decided that Sergeant Marshall would be sent back to the SGC now the gate was secure. One team of marines would then stay in the clearing to guard the gate, while SG's 2 and 3 went ahead with the remaining marines, to inspect the burning village in the distance.

As the wormhole was established Sam punched SG-2's IDC code into her GDO. She then used her radio to advise the General that the gate was secure for deployment of the UAVs and asked that the iris be opened for the injured marine to step back through for treatment.

Once she got confirmation that the iris was indeed open, she ushered Sergeant Marshall through the event horizon. The General confirmed that he'd arrived on Earth and closed down the wormhole to enable the SGC to dial back for the launch of the UAVs.

Sam stepped away from the DHD and pulled a scanner out of her pack. Switching it on, she turned slowly round until she picked up the signal from a radio transmitter inside the wooded area. She motioned to Ferretti and the teams moved in the direction of the signal.

Once they were under the cover of the trees, Sam soon located the transmitter that Khyoni had dropped earlier. She switched it off and placed it in her pack for safe keeping before turning around to watch the launch of the UAVs.

The teams all ducked down into the undergrowth as the gate burst into life. The four marines guarding the gate crouched beside it, two on either side of the huge stone ring. All sixteen members of the SGC were on the look out for the remaining two Jaffa that Teal'c had advised were almost definitely in the vicinity.

The first UAV flew through the gate and shot upwards into the air. The teams watched as it climbed to it's cruising height and disappeared off in the direction of the village. The second machine left the gate and mimicked it's predecessor before disappearing off in the opposite direction.

This happened twice more, each time with the little plane setting off on a different course. With any luck the UAVs would send back enough data to enable the SGC to locate the missing Chamakan people and maybe shed some light on what Ba'al was up to at the same time.

Ferretti and Reynolds had a brief discussion before Lou advised the marines guarding the gate that the teams were ready to move out.

#

Slowly and quietly the teams made their way through the woods towards the village. Long before they reached the edge of the wooded area they could smell the smoke from the fires that the Jaffa had started. The wind was gently blowing the smoke in their direction and it was difficult to remain silent as their throats were aggravated by the particles carried in the breeze.

Once they reached the edge of the trees they spread out to observe the village. Approximately half the houses were either burning or had burned out and they were dismayed to see bodies lying in the main street. There were three bodies, all once strong, young men and all showed obvious signs of being killed by staff weapons fire.

As they watched, an armoured Jaffa warrior appeared from inside one of the still standing houses. He'd obviously been raiding the pantry of this particular building as he was holding a large slab of cooked meat. He moved out onto the street and called to one of his comrades who emerged from another building carrying some gold jewellery which he held it up to show the first warrior. He voiced his approval and held up his slab of meat, motioning with it toward the building he'd retrieved it from.

'Jewellery Jaffa' moved into the house with the pantry and the Jaffa with the meat moved down the street to see what other loot was to be had.

Teal'c came up close behind Ferretti and whispered to him, pointing towards the house containing the pantry. Lou answered with a grim nod of his head and ducked down low again as Teal'c moved stealthily into the village.

He silently drew his knife and followed the Jaffa into the small building. With the element of surprise on his side Teal'c managed to dispatch the warrior before he'd realised that anyone was inside with him. He then dragged the body into a back room and hid it, in case the other Jaffa came looking for his comrade.

He checked the open doorway and slipped back outside. Crouched in the shadow of the small building Teal'c listened intently and was able to ascertain that there were two more Jaffa in one of the nearby buildings. He could hear muted conversation going on inside and observed that the Jaffa seemed at ease, they were obviously assuming that there was no one left to attack them.

He assumed that the other two warriors must be either patrolling or looting the village. He'd have rather known their exact whereabouts before moving further into the village but that wasn't to be.

Just as Teal'c moved out of the buildings shadow his radio sprung to life. The marines at the gate had encountered the two remaining Jaffa and had eradicated them quickly, sustaining no injuries.

Unfortunately for Teal'c, the Jaffa in the nearby building heard the transmission and came running outside, bellowing for their comrades to join them.

Teal'c threw the knife he was carrying at the leading Jaffa. It was a perfect shot and caught the warrior in his neck killing him instantly. The second Jaffa readied his staff weapon and Teal'c dived behind the building to avoid the shot.

The warrior roared his dismay at missing his prey and swung round the building in pursuit of Teal'c. As he did so he was met by a barrage of weapons fire from the P-90's of Stargate Command. He fell backwards as he died and his armour made a satisfying 'thunk' as he hit the floor.

The noise alerted the two patrolling Jaffa and they came running down the tree-line on the outside of the village. The meat-eating Jaffa emerged from the house further down the street and ran at them from the other direction.

The SGC members were effectively divided into two groups, fighting in opposite directions. Major Peterson, of SG-3, took a staff blast on his shoulder and one of the marines, Corporal Emmett was clubbed around the head with a staff weapon before the short fight was over.

The two wounded men were taken inside one of the buildings and patched up by Lieutenant Sands of SG-2. The others thoroughly checked through the village but as Teal'c suspected there were no more Jaffa to be found. SG-3 carefully lifted the bodies of the three young men from where they were lying in the street. They carried them into the underground storage area of one of the buildings and covered them in tarpaulins, hoping that a decent burial could be arranged for them soon. They covered the trap door with rubble from one of the burnt out houses and left the dead to lie in peace.

Teal'c collected the weapons from the dead Jaffa, then went round with a zat and disposed of the warriors remains.

From here on in stealth would be essential but if that failed, then it was all too possible they would need to evacuate an area at a moments notice should they be located by enemy troops. The two wounded men slowing them down could mean the difference between life and death for the whole group.

Ferretti and Reynolds decided that it would be too dangerous to have anyone not completely fit with them, so once the injuries were cared for Ferretti ordered Corporal Franks to take the wounded men back to the gate.

When he delivered the wounded men to the infirmary Corporal Franks was to advise the SGC of the fire-fight in the village and tell General Hammond that they presently hadn't located any survivors. Ferretti also requested that, once they set out, radio silence needed to be maintained if at all possible. If the Jaffa hadn't been alerted to their presence when they had been, then the injuries that Peterson and Emmett sustained may have been avoided.

Franks, Peterson and Emmett set off back to the gate while Reynolds radioed the marines to let them know to expect the three soldiers. He also needed to find out if the UAVs had reported anything. In hushed tones the marines on the gate told the Colonel that there was a massing of people in a north-easterly direction, about ten klicks from the gate. It looked like construction had been started on a defensive base and that most of the people were being held near to this structure.

The eight remaining members of the search and rescue team left the security of the buildings and re-entered the tree covered area on the far side of the village. They purposely set out in a north-easterly direction towards the construction area where they hoped to find the main populace of the Chamakan people.


	28. Chapter 28

Sticks and Stones - Chapter 28 - by Emma Nisbet (grnfield)

Their journey was hindered by the undergrowth and they found themselves having to cut a path through the bushes at the base of the trees. They were aware that they were making an obvious trail but at this point they had little choice. They'd decided before they left the first village that they wouldn't use the roadways that lead to and from the villages. These ways were undoubtedly guarded by Jaffa and the Tau'ri wanted to avoid as much confrontation as possible now they'd lost a third of their original number.

Suddenly they came across a group of Jaffa leaving another ruined village. They managed to defeat the armour clad warriors, this time without undue bloodshed to themselves and they swiftly moved back into the trees.

Not far from the second village, Teal'c raised his hand and called a halt. Ferretti crept up beside him and quietly questioned why the need to stop.

"ColonelFerretti, do you not hear that?" the Jaffa asked.

Lou cocked his head to one side and listened carefully. "You're right, I can hear something, it sounds like a child crying. Couldn't hear it over our footsteps before. Where do you suppose it's coming from?"

"It is coming from that direction," Teal'c replied, pointing. "If you give me a moment, I will endeavour to locate the source of the noise more precisely."

Teal'c moved away from the Colonel and silently moved towards the sound with a cat-like grace. He disappeared into the trees but soon returned and signalled that he wanted Sam to follow him.

Sam turned and looked to her CO for permission but Lou simply shrugged his shoulders as he'd no idea what Teal'c had seen. He knew the large Jaffa would never risk Sam's life though so after a moment he quietly gave her a nod to go ahead.

She moved over to where Teal'c was waiting and he parted the trees to allow her past. Once she'd gone about twenty paces he stopped her with a gentle touch to her shoulder and she looked at him questioningly.

Quietly he explained that there was a small group of youngsters huddled just a little further down the path. They were sheltering in the hollow caused by a fallen tree and he estimated the oldest to be early adolescent. They had not seen him and he did not want to cause them any more distress in case this caused them to flee further into the woods.

Sam squeezed the bicep of one of Teal'c huge arms and gave him an understanding smile. The compassion that the large man carried within him astounded the young woman even after all these years.

She moved carefully towards the fallen tree and peered down into the hollow at it's base. Teal'c was right, the children were terrified. There were four of them crammed into the small depression in the ground. Three girls and a boy. As she moved towards them the boy spotted her and scrambled out of the dip to place himself protectively between her and the girls. The youngest child began to cry in earnest and another clasped her tightly in a hug to offer the only comfort available.

Sam put her hands out in front of herself to show the boy that she meant no harm. Quietly she told him that she was a friend, and that she'd come from Earth to help.

At the mention of Earth the boy's face lit up. "You here…save us?" he asked, in broken English.

"That's right," Sam agreed, nodding to make sure he understood. "Will you come with me? It's not safe. I've got people with me who can protect you - look after you and the others. We'll take you back to Earth with us and you can stay there until we've sorted this mess out."

The boy nodded hesitantly, "Save seestas?"

"Seestas?" Sam asked, wondering if this was someone who was close to the child. "We've only seen you four. Who is Seestas?"

"We…five. My seestas." The boy motioned to the girls and Sam realised he meant they were his sisters. Now he'd stepped aside slightly she could see them better. She saw that the eldest girl, Sam guessed she was about ten, was hugging a baby to her chest. The babe looked barely old enough to be away from her mother, and was maybe five months old at the most. The crying child was a blonde of about three years old, and she was being comforted by a flame haired, six year old.

"Yes, we'll save your sisters." Sam said with more confidence in her voice than she actually felt. "You need to come with me, all of you. I'll take you to my friends."

The boy thought for a moment and looked down at his sisters. "We come," he said suddenly. He turned back to Sam and patted his chest. "Me, Khokai."

"Pleased to meet you, Khokai. My name's Sam."

Sam slid carefully down to where the girls were huddled, closely followed by Khokai. The girl with the baby jumped to her feet and Khokai helped her up out of the dip. Sam picked up the youngest girl and the red-head immediately grabbed onto her free hand.

Sam had a hard time getting back out of the dip without the use of her arms. She skidded and slipped back a couple of times but the clinging child still held on tight. On her final attempt she felt a hand on the back of her tac vest, and after a brief moment of panic she looked up to see that Teal'c had come out of hiding to help her. With his other hand, he reached down and grasped the free arm of the red-headed child and carefully hauled the three females out of the pit.

Khokai had watched Teal'c's approach with alarm and sat with the eldest girl and the baby by the fallen tree. He wrapped his arms protectively around his sisters and shielded them as best he could with his own body. The young man didn't take his eyes off Teal'c, clearly expecting the large Jaffa to annihilate the remainder of his family in the next few moments.

His eyes opened wide when he saw Teal'c grab hold of Sam and it was only at this point that he realised that Teal'c wasn't wearing armour. The Jaffa who'd raided his Khokai's village had been in full body armour, complete with ornamental helmets and the villagers had originally thought that they were spirits. When the troop leader had removed his face mask, the Chamakans had realised that they were being invaded and panic had set in. The platoon of Jaffa had quickly subjugated the villagers but Khokai and his sisters had managed to sneak away during the initial confusion and had run through the trees until they were exhausted.

When Teal'c stood her back on her feet, Sam saw that Khokai was still clearly disturbed by the presence of the large man. She motioned to Teal'c to stay back and carried the youngster over to her three huddled siblings. The red-head attached to her other hand automatically went with her and finally let go of Sam to go and cling to her brother. Sam knelt in front of the frightened children and placed the blonde child between the eldest children.

"It's alright, you don't need to be worried about Teal'c," she told them. "He's one of the friends I told you about."

Khokai looked at the Jaffa who was currently crouched at the end of the fallen tree. Teal'c nodded towards him and the movement caused his tattoo to glint in the sunlight.

Khokai gasped and looked at Sam with confusion in his eyes. He motioned to his forehead with his finger and drew a circle in the air.

"Yes, he's a Jaffa." Sam explained. "But he's on our side. He fights with us, against the Goa'uld who rule the Jaffa. Do you understand?"

Khokai thought for a moment and nodded.

"You've just seen him help me and your sisters out of that hole, will you let him help take the others to our friends." Sam asked. "They're not far away and then we'll get you to safety."

The young boy nodded again and tapped his chest. "Khokai," he said quietly before pointing to Sam and saying her name. He pointed at Teal'c who moved toward them slowly, as not to distress the younger children.

"I am Teal'c and I am proud to serve the Tau'ri. You have no need to fear me, I will endeavour to keep you and your siblings safe from harm." He offered a small bow to the young boy who looked at Sam for confirmation.

She nodded, placed a hand on his arm and gave it a gentle squeeze.

He gave her a small smile and proceeded to introduce his siblings to the SG team-mates. The eldest girl was Nat'ena, the red-head's name was Cho'ri and the blonde was Chy'van. He told them that the baby was called Noya and that their mother had handed her to Nat'ena as she hurried them into the woods.

The children didn't know what had happened to their parents, or indeed their village, once they'd fled. They'd been sheltering by the fallen tree for a few hours before Teal'c had discovered them. The baby was wet and hungry and the rest of the children were exhausted and frightened.

Sam told Khokai that they needed to move, it wasn't safe to stay where they were for much longer in case a Jaffa patrol came by. Carefully Teal'c lifted up the two younger girls and carried them gently, one in each arm, back into the woods towards the rest of their team-mates. Nat'ena looked over at Sam, clearly grateful that someone else would now take responsibility for the baby. She handed Noya to Sam and hugged her brother close before the pair of them followed Cho'ri and Chy'van into the woods.

Sam looked at the squirming baby in her arms. She thought the poor little thing looked very uncomfortable but realised that she'd have to wait until they got back to the others to get her dry. She took a moment to comfort the small child before setting out after Teal'c and the others, carefully cradling the precious bundle to her body, inside her tac vest.

#

When she got back to the area where they'd left the other SGC members she was glad to see the older children being cared for. They were already wrapped up in space blankets and Ferretti had given them a powerbar each to fill their hungry stomachs.

Sam nodded at her CO as he approached her. He looked at the bundle in her arms and was surprised to see that the baby had fallen asleep. The warmth from Sam's body and the rhythm of her walking had lulled the child into the land of dreams.

"It's a good look on you, Sam," he said gently, nodding towards the child. She looked him deeply in the eyes, sighed and cuddled the baby tighter, leaning down to place a kiss on the top of the blonde curls to hide the fact that her eyes were tearing up.

Lou realised he might have touched a raw nerve and gently rubbed Sam's shoulder. "You're time'll come, Major, of that I'm sure. Ol' Jack's great with kids, and I should know - he's godfather to my tribe. I'm sure that when the time's right there'll be some little'uns come along for you two as well. Believe me when I say it won't matter that they ain't your own flesh and blood, two of ours are the children of Carolyn's best friend from college. Her and her husband were killed when the kids were just two and four and they came to live with us straight after that. Now we wouldn't be without 'em and love 'em just as much as we do our own kids. We've never hidden the fact from them that they're adopted but they're not treated any differently from our own children."

"You know then?" Sam asked quietly, looking around and realising that the others were all busy so the conversation was pretty much private.

"Yeah, that was a bad time for the Colonel. Tried for years they did - him and Sara - before the Docs finally found out what was wrong. Always wanted lots of kids did Jack, coming from a big ol' Irish family himself. 'Bout broke his heart when the Docs said there was nothing they could do. And then when…that happened to Charlie…well I thought that would be the end of him. Very nearly was too - I know he never intended to come home from Abydos. I'm sure he saw it as a more respectable way to go than eating his gun - less traumatic for his family that way too. Sara would have had his pension and the house would have been paid for. His father would have been told that his son had died serving his country and his service record would have recorded the same. I'm sure there's no greater cause than dying for your entire planet but it still seemed wrong - Jack had lost his entire family but I knew there had to be something out there to make him want to live again. Little did I realise at the time, that 'something' was actually 'someone' and Jack found it in the form of Doctor J. You should've seen them two at first, Sam - they couldn't even stand to look at one another. Jack fought tooth and nail to keep Doctor Jackson off the team but he was overruled 'cos it was obvious that no one else'd be able to translate the markings on the other side to get us home again. I don't know how the Doc did it but when he 'died' for the first time he got in under Jack's defences and restarted the fires of humanity in the Colonel's heart. By the time it came to go home the bond between them was fully formed and it was heart wrenching to have to leave. At least we knew that Daniel'd be safe with the Abydonians once the gate was buried…well we thought we knew anyway. I guess it didn't work out like that did it?"

"No," said Sam, shaking her head sadly. "…but I guess nothing goes quite to plan where the SGC's involved, does it?"

"No, that it doesn't, Sam. That it doesn't." Lou gave her shoulder another rub and directed her to move towards the others. "Let's get these kids home before this little'un wants feeding. The older ones are OK with the powerbars but I don't think this one's up to that yet, do you?"

"No," Sam sighed. "I was thinking about that though. She's going to wake up sooner rather than later because she's wet. I'll have to fashion something to wrap her in and then swaddle her in a space blanket to keep her warm. If we've got any MREs with rice pudding, or the like, in them then she'd probably be OK with something like that. My brother's kids started off eating baby rice and soon moved onto porridge, and as long as I watch out for lumps I'm sure I can get some pudding into her. It's sweet so it'll go down easily and will give her some energy while we've got no milk to give her."

"You have been thinking, haven't you? Go to it then, we need to move out soon, I'm gonna radio the gate and get some marines to meet us half way. That way we won't lose too much more time before we head back towards the base."

Lou deposited Sam near to the children and helped her to remove her pack without disturbing the baby. He moved away and murmured to Reynolds who set to work finding an appropriate variety of MRE. Once he found the right one he activated the heating element and sat it down next to Sam.

With one hand the young woman rifled through the pack and fished out one of her spare T-shirts. She then opened her medical kit and removed a sling which she intended to use as a diaper.

Even though she was being careful with her movements, baby Noya soon awoke. She started grizzling as soon as she opened her eyes so Sam carefully unwrapped her from her sodden blanket and stripped her of her clothing. She quickly fashioned a diaper out of the sling and wrapped the baby in her T-shirt before she could get too cold. To complete the process the baby was then snugly wrapped in a space blanket and Sam cuddled her to her chest to settle her down again.

Sam leant back, put her knees up in front of her and carefully propped Noya against them. The baby looked placidly up at her with wide blue eyes and Sam couldn't resist placing a kiss on her forehead. Tears came unbidden to her eyes when Noya smiled back at her and she gently stoked the baby's soft hair.

With a sigh she calmed her emotions and reached over to pick up the MRE. With the plastic spoon that came with it she scooped out a little of the sweet mixture and blew on it to cool it down. She tested a little with her tongue and when she was happy with the temperature she put the spoon to the baby's lips.

The little mouth immediately opened and Sam spooned in a little of the pudding. Noya started a little at the sweetness but soon swallowed the mouthful and opened her mouth for more. Sam scooped out another spoonful and cooled it down again before giving it to the baby. She was ready this time and immediately reloaded the spoon while the baby was processing the mouthful.

A few minutes later Noya had made a sizeable impact in the pudding and was starting to get drowsy. Sam put the meal ration down to her side and gently wiped the baby's face clean.

She tucked the child inside her tac vest, close to her heart and soon the baby was fast asleep.

Carefully Sam got to her feet and gratefully stretched her legs. Ferretti saw the movement and made his way over to her.

"Everything OK, Major?" he asked.

"Just a little stiff, that's all, sir," she answered. "I don't think that was the best position to be sitting in for any length of time."

"Did the job though, didn't it?" Lou said. "She looks peaceful enough again now. Warm and dry, that's the best way for a baby to be - not stuck out in some cold, damp wood with little or no chance of rescue. Corporal Franks has come back through the gate with a troop of replacement marines. They're following our trail back here as we speak. We need to get moving now that Junior's sorted. The other's are OK, just shaken up and a bit cold. Now they've got the powerbars inside 'em they're ready to roll but Teal'c's' going to carry the little blonde so we can keep to a decent speed going back. The little red-head seems feisty and wants to walk but one of us will give her a lift once she gets tired. You OK with Junior there?"

"More than OK, sir. It's like she belongs there and I know I'm not going to want to give her to the marines at the end of this walk." Sam admitted sadly.

"I understand, Major." Lou said with a grin. "She's a cute kid. They'll look after her back at the SGC, they'll get some milk into her and get her some clothes and a real diaper. You've done all you can do for now, she'll be there when you get back and I'm sure her mother will hunting you down to thank you for saving her babies - all five of them."

"Yeah," said Sam. "I hope she's OK. We still don't know exactly what's going on over near the base that's being built."

"Uhm, we do now, Major." Lou told her sadly. "On it's second pass, the UAV passed over the area a little to the north of the base and found a huge mine. Seems Teal'c was right when he guessed the Jaffa would use the Chamakan people as slave labour. I'm sure glad the kids got away when they did, they wouldn't last long in a mine. We've just got to get 'em safely home then we can go 'n see what we can do about the rest of their people."

"Agreed. If you help me get my pack back on then I'm ready when you are, sir." Sam kicked at the pack by her feet.

"You sure you don't want one of us to carry that for you while you've got the baby?" Lou offered.

"No, sir." Sam said. "Teal'c's got Chy'van and one of you is going to end up carrying Cho'ri so if you don't mind, I'll carry my own pack."

Lou laughed, "No problem, Major. I had a feeling you'd say that but I thought I'd offer anyway."

Lou picked up Sam's pack and made sure it was securely fastened before he helped her get it positioned comfortably on her back.

"Ready to roll?" he asked.

"Ready," Sam answered. "…and thanks, sir."

"Any time, Major. Got to look after you, or I'll have a certain Air Force Colonel to deal with." Lou chuckled at the startled expression on Sam's face. "Only jokin', Major. But you know it's the truth anyway!"

"No comment," came Sam's succinct reply. She thought better of being cheeky and, after a moments pause, added a soft, "Sir,"

Lou grinned again and moved away from Sam. "Ready to move out," he quietly advised the rest of the team. "Reynolds, you and yours take up the rear. I'll take point with Sands, Bell and Grimm. Teal'c, Carter and the kids in the middle at all times - understood?"

"Understood, Colonel." Reynolds replied. "SG-3 are ready at your signal, sir."

Ferretti, Sands, Bell and the marine called Grimm set off to retrace their steps back through the wood.

Teal'c picked up Chy'van and ensured she was securely balanced on his arm before moving to follow them towards the trail. Suddenly he felt a tug on his pants leg and he stopped and looked down. Cho'ri was gently tugging on his clothing, trying to attract his attention. As soon as she realised that Teal'c had stopped she grabbed hold of his hand and set off towards Ferretti and the others, pulling the large Jaffa along with her.

Teal'c raised an eyebrow as he was towed along. He looked back at Sam who just grinned back at him. He gave her a look that said 'You will not tell O'Neill of this, or I will no longer consider you my friend,' and turned back to face the direction that he was being dragged.

Sam smiled again and shook her head before ushering the older children to follow the others. Once they were moving in the right direction she followed them and Colonel Reynolds and his team filled the space behind her.

They made good time and met up with the marines roughly halfway between the two villages that they'd visited earlier.

Teal'c had ended up carrying both Cho'ri and Chy'van and passed each of his two small charges to a separate marine. Cho'ri threw her arms around his neck as he handed her over to Sergeant Mills, the Jaffa gave her a brief hug before promising her he'd go and see her just as soon as he got back to the SGC.

She hugged him again before turning in Sergeant Mills' arms and burying her face in his neck, sobbing. The sergeant stroked her back and cooed quietly to calm her. The elder children moved to stand between the marines holding their young siblings.

Sam was upset when she had to hand over the baby but was glad to find that Sergeant Fernandez had young children himself. He promised to take very good care of Noya and deliver her safely into the waiting arms of Janet Fraiser.

Sam gave Noya a last cuddle but was secretly glad that the baby stayed asleep while she handed her over. She placed a gentle kiss on the golden curls and turned away before the marines could see how upset she was getting.

She moved quietly into the trees and slumped down against one, hugging her knees. Teal'c went to follow her but Ferretti stopped him with a gentle touch on his arm. "Let her have a minute, Teal'c. This has been hard on her and it's brought some deep emotions to the forefront of her mind. Keep an eye on her but let her have a moment to work through things herself. She needs to get her head on straight before we get to that building site or she's going to be a liability to us all and I really don't want to lose risk that."

"Indeed, ColonelFerretti. You speak wisely." Teal'c acknowledged. "I have observed the bond that MajorCarter seems to have formed with the child, Noya. It is unfortunate that she cannot see the child safely in the arms of DoctorFraiser before we set out again but it is necessary that we press forwards for the construction zone as soon as possible."

"Yep, and we'll be heading out very soon." Ferretti assured him.

Lou turned to the marines and advised them to head straight for the infirmary at the SGC. The four men on the gate would stay at their post until the SGC sent replacements for them and this would continue until SG-2 and 3 returned from their recon.

The four men and five children retraced their steps along the trail and soon disappeared from view and a moment later Sam emerged from the trees managing to look almost presentable.

Lou rested a hand on her back and asked if she was OK to continue. She attempted to pull her body straighter to stand to attention but the effect was spoiled somewhat when she sniffed hard and made herself cough. Ferretti banged her on the back and she ended up laughing at the ridiculousness of the situation.

"Don't worry, Major. We're just going to have a little look round and then we'll be headed home too. I'm sure Fraiser'll have fun getting the little'un all cleaned up ready for when you get back."

Sam smiled at that, "Thanks, Lou…er, sorry…I mean…Thank you, sir."

"Don't worry about it, Major." Ferretti assured her. "Come one, let's get gone. The sooner we get there and have a look around, the sooner we can get home and work out what we're going to do about getting the villagers away from all the Jaffa. Sure as damn it we're not going to be able to do it with just the nine of us. You want to do the honours, Reynolds?"

"Sure thing, boss." Reynolds winked at the other Colonel. "OK men, move out. If we make good time we should get there and back before dusk. Let's see what we can find out what they're building and see if we can do anything to slow 'em down a bit at the same time. OK, boss?"

Ferretti raised his eyebrows at this long speech from the usually quiet Colonel Reynolds. "Not quite what I meant but, yeah, what the hell. Recon first…slowing down construction second, got that."

"Got it, sir," came the reply from the remaining SGC personnel.

"Well then, what you waiting for? Move out, on the double." Lou ordered. "Keep your eyes peeled and your guns ready. We don't know what to expect as we get nearer to that construction site but we're going to be as prepared as we can be for anything we come across."

The two teams plus Sergeant Grimm moved back down their hand cut trail for the third time that day. When they passed the area where they'd found the children they had to start cutting their way through the undergrowth again. They made good time and just had one quick stop for food.

Within a couple of hours it became clear that they were approaching the base construction zone. They ducked down in the trees and paused a moment to regroup.


	29. Chapter 29

Sticks and Stones - Chapter 29 - by Emma Nisbet (grnfield)

The nine members of the SGC made good time and just had one quick stop for food. Within a couple of hours it became clear that they were approaching the base construction zone when they caught sight of the topmost point of the Ha'tak vessel. They scouted around a vast area of devastation until they finally came to a halt on a wooded rise above the area where the base was being assembled. Once they were certain they had not been spotted they ducked down in the trees and paused a moment to regroup.

Ferretti took out his binoculars and scanned the location. The Ha'tak had been placed in the middle of the area and was sitting on a crudely constructed landing platform, supported on four corners by large stone columns. Looking around, it was clear that the Chamakan people were being used as slave labour with little care being taken as to whether they would survive the punishing work schedule they were being forced to adhere to.

Lou handed his binoculars to Reynolds and turned to inform the rest of SG-2 and 3 what he had seen.

"It seems to be mainly women and elderly men who are doing the actual construction of the base. They're well guarded although looking at the state of the people down there it seems hardly likely that they would be able to escape if they were given the chance. Most of them are about dead on their feet and don't look like they've had a decent meal in weeks. I don't think everyone's gonna make it 'til dusk. There's too many Jaffa for just us to do anything about it now, we're going to need reinforcements - and lots of 'em."

"Ferretti, get over here." Colonel Reynolds called urgently.

Lou quickly slid into the space next to where Reynolds was crouched with the binoculars. Reynolds handed them over to him with a grim look on his face. "By the back wall, two o'clock."

Ferretti placed the binoculars close to his eyes and peered in the direction that Reynolds had directed. After a moment he looked back at the other Colonel, "Damn," he said with a grimace. He had looked over just as the body of an old man was thrown onto an open topped cart. It was the cart that Reynolds had spotted a few moments before - a cart full of bodies.

Ferretti raised the binoculars again and took a close look at the tired, toiling people. "Damn it," he whispered to them. "I wish we could do something for you here and now. We ain't no use to you dead ourselves though. Hang on people, just hang on. We'll get you out just as soon as we can."

"Amen," Reynolds whispered in reply.

Lou turned to him, not realising that his whispered prayer had been overheard. "We gotta find out what the situation's like in the mine, then we're gonna go back to the SGC, get ourselves plenty of backup and kick some serious Jaffa arse."

The two Colonels returned to their teams and quickly gathered everything together. Carefully they covered any trace of their impromptu stopping place and headed north, towards the location of the mine. They had to make a large detour around the base to avoid the Jaffa patrols but in less than two hours they were in the vicinity of the mine.

They passed by several wrecked villages, many with bodies left where they had fallen in the street. After leaving the last village behind the teams realised they could hear the sounds that the mine was producing so they decided to move deeper into the woods. The sounds grew louder as they got nearer and Teal'c suggested that he go forwards and bring back a report of the situation before the rest of the teams moved in.

As it turned out this was exactly the right thing to do. Teal'c silently edged towards the source of the noise and was momentarily shocked when the tree-line just stopped at a very sudden drop-off.

Teal'c lay on his stomach on the edge of the drop and surveyed the area. This was clearly where the bulk of the Chamakan males were being held and they were being worked until they collapsed and died. Teal'c wondered about the brutality of his former brothers-in-arms, his whole life he had never embraced the Jaffa mentality that any lesser beings could be used and abused as and when the Goa'uld saw fit. He had always tried to act as protector as much as he could without being discovered although this was not as much as he would have preferred to do. Had he been found out then he would have almost certainly lost his primeship and most probably also his life. He had seen his father executed by the removal of his prim'ta and Teal'c had had no desire to suffer the same fate so did only what he could without being detected.

He stayed in his position on top of the drop-off for many minutes, watching the Jaffa and trying to pinpoint discrepancies in their patrol areas. He realised that he had dallied too long when he heard his radio click once. Carefully he clicked the talk button twice to let his team-mates know he was safe and then slowly crept back into the trees to rejoin them.

"ColonelFerretti, we cannot proceed in the direction which we are travelling." Teal'c reported as he joined the others hidden in the trees. "After a distance of approximately five hundred yards the ground drops away, straight downwards into a heavily guarded area around an opencast of the mine. The mine appears to be being worked by the able bodied males of the Chamakan population. There are also many male children present although from those I saw I would estimate that the youngest was aged at no more than eight years. I see no way to penetrate the working area from this angle, the side nearest to our present location is a sheer drop. If the Jaffa were not present it would be possible to rappel down to the floor and make contact with the Chamakan people. However, with the guards posted as they are, anyone descending down the rock face would be easy targets for staff weapons fire."

"The aim is not to make contact at the moment, Teal'c." Lou reminded him. "Much as I hate to leave the poor people down there to suffer any longer unfortunately it's necessary at this time. This is purely a fact finding mission. If we go in there with all guns blazing not only will we probably end up dead but so will many of the Chamakans. Once the Jaffa know things are kicking off over here I'm sure they'll have no qualms about getting rid of the women there…and let me remind everyone that we've not located any of the younger women or the children yet."

"They will undoubtedly be together, ColonelFerretti." Teal'c stated solemnly. "Although the children will not fare well in the situation that they have been thrown into and I fear many of them will have perished. The young women will be required to prepare the Han'sak - a basic nutrient compound, similar to what you Tau'ri call porridge. The prisoners will usually be moved when dusk falls as this is the least productive time of day. Men, women and children will be gathered together once a day for their meal."

"Just one meal a day? No wonder they can't keep working like they are," Sergeant Grimm commented with a shudder. "Why put them all together, just to split them up again after the meal?"

Teal'c shook his head. "They will not split them up again until the sun rises the following morning. The Chamakans will spend the night in one group, most probably in a natural gulley, or ravine, with only one entrance. It is this gulley that we need to search out next, it is where we will find the children and young women. This grouping of prisoners minimises the number of guards required during the hours of darkness and also suffices to subdue the prisoners further. If they see their loved ones then they are reminded what they have to survive for. They will also come to realise that if any attempt to escape is made, then the two other groups will suffer the consequences.

"That's just sick," said Sam quietly. "Plus the fact that if they don't see their families they'll know that they've already died. That won't make anyone want to work harder, that'd have the opposite effect - surely?"

Teal'c looked at Sam with a hint of sadness in his eyes. "That is untrue MajorCarter. Then the people will begin to work for the survival of their very race. Unfortunately this has been happening for many centuries, the Jaffa know that, once subjugated, these people will work until they drop. They will be made to believe that if they successfully complete the tasks they have been assigned then they will be set free. Hope is a very powerful weapon in the hands of the Jaffa, MajorCarter…and they wield it with great dexterity."

"Major Carter, let's take a look at the map that SG-5 produced during the original mission here." Ferretti suggested. "Teal'c, take a look and see if there's anything that looks like the sort of gulley that the Jaffa might use."

"Indeed I will look at the map although I expect us to find that the gulley is a fair distance in that direction." Teal'c gestured to an area to the south of the mine.

"Aw, man. We could've past it on the way." Reynolds exclaimed. "What makes you think it's that way, Teal'c?"

Teal'c looked in the direction that he'd pointed, "ColonelReynolds, there is a heat-haze clearly visible in that direction. I deduced that this would be caused by the cooking fires being used by those at work in the gulley."

"Well it might be clearly visible to you, Teal'c." Ferretti grouched, "but it sure ain't to me."

Sam was hunched over, examining the map. Suddenly she lifted her head and said, "Teal'c's right, Sir. There is a ravine a few klicks to the south of us. From what I can see it is - or at least it was - open at both ends. However the faces are loose scree and it wouldn't have taken much to cause a rockslide that would block off either one end or the other. I think it's our best guess, Sir."

"Agreed," replied Lou. "We'll go and have a look, check out the situation in the ravine, then get back to the gate and contact the SGC."

"We all going together?" Reynolds queried.

"For now, yeah." Lou replied. "Let's find out what we can before we decide if everyone's going back to the gate or not. Whatever happens we're gonna have to sort out some reinforcements."

#

Getting nine people to the ravine undetected proved extremely difficult, and more than once they had to lay low in the undergrowth to wait for a Jaffa patrol to pass by. It took far longer than it should have done to reach the ravine and then more time again to find a safe spot where they could see both the entrance to the gulley and the inside of the area itself.

By the time the teams were safely hidden above the ravine, dusk was close to drawing in, and with the last vestiges of sunlight the SG team-mates got a look at the conditions inside the gulley area. A few Jaffa patrolled the open end and the far end had been blocked off by a land slide - as Sam had guessed when she'd looked at the map earlier. They were dismayed to see that both the teenage girls and the young children were just as grimy and undernourished as their adult counterparts although thankfully they seemed to be being left more-or-less undisturbed within the compound.

It was decided that the three members of SG-3 would quietly slip away and head for the gate to report in with the SGC, while SG-2 and Sergeant Grimm stayed by the ravine and watched the proceedings there. It was arranged that, if at all possible, SG-2 would remain in the area and SG-3 would meet up with them before first light the next morning. Travelling under the cover of darkness was far from ideal but with the use of night vision goggles the teams had a distinct advantage over the Jaffa.

#

It wasn't long after SG-3 left that the first troop of Jaffa turned up with the men and women from the base construction area. The strongest of the group were pulling two open topped carts between them. Both carts were covered in tarpaulins but Ferretti soon realised that one of these was the cart of bodies that he and Reynolds had seen earlier. The fact that there were now two carts, and that both were clearly full, filled the gentle Colonel with sorrow.

The Jaffa ordered the cart bearers to an area out of sight behind the trees, before herding the rest of the prisoners through the entrance of the ravine to mix with the rest of the Chamakan people.

Not long afterwards the male prisoners arrived from the mine. They too were pulling several carts full of bodies. These carts were directed onto the same path as those from the construction site while the remaining men were ordered into the ravine.

The cart bearers returned approximately half an hour later, both groups of carts arriving shortly after one another. The women pulling the first carts had tears rolling down their faces and the men following them all wore grim expressions. The carts were now empty and each one had it's tarpaulin folded up inside, waiting for the next day when the carts would surely be filled again.


	30. Chapter 30

Sticks and Stones – Chapter 30 - by Emma Nisbet (grnfield)

As Ferretti and his hidden team watched the Chamakan people entering the ravine they saw many tearful reunions when family members located their loved ones. Sadly though they saw just as many people who were clearly lost and bewildered by the fact that their family members were nowhere to be found. The heartbreak was plain to see on the faces of these, now lonely souls and many a time they saw men, women and children breakdown in tears when they realised that they would never see their loved ones again.

#

SG-2 remained hidden in the trees for many hours. Laying on their bellies they crept forwards at random intervals to peer over the edge of the ravine. They were glad to see that the Jaffa were pretty much leaving the Chamakans alone, in fact there were surprisingly few Jaffa guarding the canyon entrance at all - just one standard group of six warriors, but only three of those visible at any one time. Teal'c pointed out that the Jaffa were, in many ways, just as arrogant as the Goa'uld. They were the superior force on this planet and had full control of the Chamakan people. This was also the main reason that the guards were in full body armour, including helmets. The Chamakans could see the large warriors, in all their gear, and be in awe of their massive strength and power and because of this there was no need for a large Jaffa presence at the ravine. The Chamakans had been subdued and placed in a virtually impenetrable area so that most of the Jaffa could return to the Ha'tak to feast in the style that they had grown accustomed to.

Lou questioned Teal'c as to whether this knowledge could be used to the advantage of the SG teams. Teal'c put forward a suggestion that once SG-3 returned they would have sufficient manpower to replace the squad of Jaffa that were guarding the canyon. If this was done under cover of darkness, when the rest of the Jaffa were elsewhere then hopefully it could be achieved with minimal risk to both the members of the SGC and the Chamakan prisoners as well. The SG-replacement-Jaffa could at least ease the suffering of the young women and children during the next day and possibly manage to get a message to the Chamakan people that help was finally on the way.

#

When SG-3 returned, several hours after midnight, they brought news that the SGC would not be sending any more teams through straight away. The IOA had inserted their usual spanner into the works and were complaining about the cost - both monetary and human - of a rescue mission for a group of people who, in their opinion, hadn't given very much in return. Initially SG-3 had been ordered to return to Earth along with the team of Marines, who were guarding the gate. Reynolds had pointed out that SG-2 were maintaining radio silence and this could not be broken for fear of alerting the Jaffa to their presence. If the SGC couldn't contact Ferretti's team by radio then someone was going to have to return to them and 'drag their sorry asses back through the gate'. After a fair bit of haggling Hammond had finally got agreement for the teams currently on the planet to remain where they were. Basically they were on their own, their orders were to gain as much intel as possible on the current situation, to stay out of trouble and then to return through the gate as and when they could safely do so.

Most of the team-mates left on Chamaka had served under General Hammond for many years. They knew the Texan Grandfather would have done anything in his power to allow his men to be able to help save the Chamakan people. One of the main complaints from the upper echelons inside the SGC was that their hands were tied in so many of the most important decisions. The 'bloody minded bureaucrats' had a great deal of power and unfortunately also held the purse strings for the whole Stargate project. It was one of the main reasons that Colonel O'Neill couldn't and wouldn't have handled a desk job when he left SG-1. He'd butted heads many a time with some of the people holding most of the power - Robert Kinsey being the prime example.

Therefore the teams on the planet took their 'orders' with a hefty pinch of salt. They had no intentions of leaving the Chamakan population to the predicament that they had unfortunately found themselves in and it was decided that the two teams would have to take matters into their own hands. Whatever they could do to make life difficult for these two particular Goa'ulds - and their Jaffa too, of course - would be done with as much preservation of Human and Chamakan life as possible. The current Chamakan prisoners were in a bad condition already. Should many more of them perish in the next few days then it was almost certain that the Jaffa would go out and collect the residents of the next inhabited village. This would go on - ad infinitum - until either the work on the base was completed and the mine was empty, or until the Jaffa ran out of useable Chamakan people. That possibility didn't bear thinking about. If the population of Chamakans was wiped from the face of their planet then Ba'al would, almost single-handedly, have caused their genocide. The Chamakans had never travelled from their homeworld and SG-5 had caused a furore when they had first stepped through the gate a few years before. Once the locals had calmed down, SG-5 had been received as friends and an agreement had been drawn up between the two worlds.

#

Ferretti was glad to see that Corporal Franks had returned with SG-3. There had been no need for the young man to remain with the marines at the gate but as no-one had been willing to let him catch up with the other two teams on his own, he'd been stuck there when he had returned the children through the gate with Mills and Fernandez's group.

This was good news as it meant that ten members of the SGC were now camped above the ravine. Just increasing their numbers by one meant extra security for the teams. The six largest people could be used to replace the entire squad of Jaffa, leaving Lou and Sam with Jimmy Sands of SG-2, and Sergeant Davies from SG-3. Ferretti was loath to split up his team but this combination made the most sense. Teal'c obviously had to become one of the replacement Jaffa as he knew what was to be expected of the troops and could coach the others to avoid raising suspicion. Sergeant Bell from SG-2 was a large strapping soldier and had a decent understanding of the Goa'uld language, whereas Mickey Davies was a small man, and a recent addition to SG-3 team at that.

Everyone remained in their makeshift camp for a couple of hours more. This gave the members of SG-3 a chance to rest for a while after their trek through the dark woods of Chamaka, but tensions ran high in the camp and no-one got much actual sleep.

#

Once the faintest glimmer of light started to show in the sky, Teal'c advised that it was 'now or never' as the plan needed to be put into action before dawn broke completely. The Jaffa patrols would soon be leaving the Ha'tak and heading back to collect their contingent of workers for the day ahead. They would bring food for the Jaffa guarding the canyon and then return with the prisoners to guard either the mine or the construction area.

Reynolds queried why the Jaffa guarding the ravine didn't get to eat on the Ha'tak. Teal'c was quick to fill him in on the ranking system within the Jaffa. The lower ranking warriors were the ones who were selected for menial tasks like guarding the children in the ravine. Higher ranking Jaffa had more high status tasks such as guarding the women on the construction area or the men in the mines. These higher ranking warriors had previously won their right to eat onboard the Ha'tak, a privilege they had earned with blood, sweat and toil.

Teal'c, Reynolds, Bell, Nicholson, Franks and Grimm moved swiftly away from the camp, and drifted silently towards the entrance of the ravine. The three Jaffa currently standing guard were efficiently despatched and the six men swiftly stripped them of their armour and hid the bodies deep within the wooded area on the far side of the canyon.

Teal'c, Reynolds and Nicholson were soon clothed in the Jaffa uniforms and they donned the helmets quickly, to begin patrolling the entrance to the ravine. Their three comrades made their way quietly to the area where they knew the remaining three guards were sleeping. The two marines and Sergeant Bell had no problems with the sleeping Jaffa but had to make several trips back and forth to hide the bodies. Jaffa were never particularly lightweights and it took two fully grown men to easily manoeuvre each cadaver through the trees and place them where they wouldn't be easily discovered.

With that unpleasant task completed the three Tau'ri returned to the Jaffa camp and wrapped themselves in blankets to give the impression that they were sleeping. Teal'c had told his team-mates that the Jaffa camp would more than likely not be disturbed. The only reason a higher ranking soldier would enter the camp would be if there was a major problem - or a high suspicion of one. Either way, the SG teams would already be in serious trouble.


	31. Chapter 31

Sticks and Stones – Chapter 31 - by Emma Nisbet (grnfield)

Once Teal'c and his replacement-Jaffa had left for the ravine, Ferretti, Carter, Sands and Davies slipped off in the opposite direction to retrace their steps of the previous day. It took a fair while for them to skirt around the construction site and climb the hill that they'd hidden on the day before.

The sun was climbing in the sky by the time they finally settled into the trees. The Chamakan men and women were hard at work and the Jaffa patrols were in place around the perimeter.

After watching for a while Sam managed to work out a pattern in the Jaffa behaviour. Every thirty-eight minutes a group of three Jaffa would march under the Ha'tak, stand under the transport rings and one would then activate the ring control mechanism on his armband. The three Jaffa would then disappear up into the bowels of the ship, only to return exactly twenty-seven minutes later. At least, Sam assumed that it was the same warriors returning but with full armour on there was no way to tell for sure.

After observing the routine for another couple of rotations, Sam realised that the travelling up and down to the ship was obviously a standard routine for the Jaffa. The area underneath the Ha'tak was virtually unguarded most of the time and as far as Sam could gather, the only time the area was actually under scrutiny was when the three Jaffa, who's turn it was to enter, were heading towards the area. The rest of the Jaffa were too busy watching the poor Chamakan builders and punishing them when they felt the workers were not being as efficient as they should be. When the rings activated to deposit the warriors back on the planet, no-one paid the slightest bit of attention to them at all.

Sam pointed her observations out to Ferretti and the others and all four watched as another set of warriors approached the ringing area. After a brief but very hushed discussion, the decision was made to try and infiltrate the Ha'tak vessel via the ring transporter. It was a risky idea but with the Ha'tak positioned how it was, perched on it's platform on top of rather unstable looking rock pillars, there was no other possible means of getting aboard.

Once on board they would try to ascertain the threat level on the ship, attempt to locate the Goa'uld system lords and find out the level of their personal guard. Once these variables were taken into account then a further decision would be made as to how to best to proceed and the next part of the plan would be agreed upon.

#

A whispered radio message was put through to Teal'c who confirmed that the Jaffa would continue with their thirty-eight minute routine throughout the day. He voiced his concern at the idea of the four humans entering the Ha'tak vessel, although he conceded that it was better that they did it now, while a large proportion of the Jaffa were still down on the planet.

While in discussion with Teal'c, the others were informed that his band of false-Jaffa had successfully overthrown the original warriors and had handed over the Chamakan men and women to the other Jaffa without raising suspicion. They had then made contact with the young women of Chamaka and assured them that they were no longer alone. The youngsters had been well fed this morning and the adults would also be, when they were delivered to the ravine, later that evening. The young women had been set the task of carefully spreading the news to the working men and women once the Chamakans were all back together for the night.

Teal'c had marked 'his Jaffa' with a bloody patch on their right wrists. This mark was visible enough that the Chamakan people would know which Jaffa were friendly, whilst being unobtrusive enough that the non-Tau'ri Jaffa would not realise there was anything untoward about it.

The quiet transmission was brought to a close and Teal'c wished his friends all the best. He hoped to hear from them when they returned from the ship, although both parties acknowledged that this might not be for some time.

#

By the time Sam and Ferretti were ready to put their plan into action it was only about four hours to dusk. They were well aware that, as soon as the light started to fade, the Jaffa would deliver the Chamakans back to the ravine, leave them with Teal'c and his men, and then return to the Ha'tak. For Teal'c and his people, this would be the riskiest part of the ruse but everyone was well aware that if Sam, Ferretti and the others were not off the ship by the time the Jaffa returned then their task was going to be made all the more hazardous.

The team crept down the hill and ducked down behind some of the many large boulders to watch as the next team of Jaffa ringed up to the ship. Sam started her stopwatch, and once twenty minutes had passed they crept under of the Ha'tak. After remaining hidden until the last possible moment, the four soldiers stealthily placed themselves inside the ringing area, assumed a defensive formation, and waited for the Jaffa to return on their standard twenty-seven minute schedule.

Sure enough, just thirty-two seconds later, the rings activated. To a casual observer there would have simply been a flash of light and four Tau'ri soldiers would have transformed into three Jaffa warriors in the space of just a few seconds. In actual fact the humans and the Jaffa merely changed places - the human's went upwards, into the ship, and the Jaffa warriors descended to the planet. Neither group felt the passing of the other, and the Tau'ri were relieved to find themselves alone in the transporter room of the ship.

They immediately hid themselves behind the packing crates that seemed to be present in nearly every transporter room they had even encountered. Ferretti took a brief moment to wonder about the lack of common sense displayed by both the Goa'uld and the Jaffa. The most logical place that an enemy would board a Ha'tak vessel was through the transporter room and yet they were very rarely guarded and usually full of 'junk' that made plenty of great hiding places. He shook his head and motioned for his team to follow him down the corridor and away from the rings. They had seven minutes left before the next three Jaffa came up from Chamaka. Seven minutes in which to secrete themselves away because if they weren't careful they'd find themselves trapped between the three new Jaffa and the as-yet-unknown-number of unfriendlies already onboard the ship.


	32. Chapter 32

Sticks and Stones – Chapter 32 - by Emma Nisbet (grnfield)

The team were grateful that they encountered no resistance in their first few minutes on board the Ha'tak. The ship was eerily quiet and there was a complete absence of any non-mechanical sounds. The usual hubbub was missing from the vessel and Sam wondered just what proportion of the Jaffa were actually down on the planet. All in all she knew she could account for thirty of the large warriors. Six of them had been eliminated and replaced by Teal'c, Reynolds and the other members of Stargate Command. Another twelve were guarding the mine, and they had just avoided the last dozen on the building site below. Suddenly Sam realised there was also an untold number of warriors within the woods and villages of the planet below. Many of these had been eliminated by the SG teams, as they had worked their way towards the construction area and the mine. She wondered if, like Teal'c's group, these were also 'Jaffa minions' and were not privileged enough to be supping on the ship overnight. Surely if they'd been expected to return then their absence would have been noted but there was no sign that the Jaffa were on their guard at all - no more than normal anyway, she thought.

As they slunk down the corridor the team discreetly opened doors and examined rooms, both for potential threats and possible hiding places. The more they knew about the area, the safer they would all feel and they still needed to find a defensible place where they could lay low while they recc'ed the rest of the ship.

Suddenly in the corridor behind them they heard the unmistakable sound of the ring transporter activating. Sam looked at her watch and realised with horror that their time was up. The three Jaffa would be on top of them in mere moments. She glanced at Ferretti who caught her gaze, he was obviously having the same frantic thoughts as the Major.

Quickly Lou sprang into action and wrenched open the door to the room he'd just finished investigating. It was a simple storeroom, well as simple as any room in a Ha'tak could ever be. It still had the usual ostentatious gold hieroglyphs on all four walls and a large fancy design on the ceiling but more importantly than that it contained cargo. The room was crammed with boxes and crates of all shapes and sizes, piled high on top of one another in a none-to-organised way. Lou grabbed the back of Sam's tac vest and shoved her through the open doorway, Sands and Davies followed suit and a moment later Lou himself entered the room, closing the door quietly behind him.

The four Tau'ri arranged themselves around the small room in such a way that they could effectively ambush anyone who came to searching for them, assuming they weren't too vastly outnumbered, of course.

As they crouched behind the crates, the SG team members heard the all-too-familiar tramping of booted Jaffa feet in the corridor outside. They were pretty certain their presence aboard the ship had not been detected but that didn't stop anyone holding their breath and praying that no-one would enter the room.

It seems their prayers were answered when the footsteps continued past the door and faded away as the warriors turned a corner and marched further into the depths of the Ha'tak.

#

The three men and Sam breathed a collective sigh of relief and swiftly emerged from their hiding places for a brief discussion. They knew they were going to have to make some assumptions as to the comings and goings of the Jaffa warriors and cautiously they hoped to have a safe window of at least twenty minutes before the three warriors returned to ring back down to Chamaka.

Ferretti eased the door open a minute amount and guardedly peered out into the corridor. When he motioned that the coast was clear the SG team left the room, holding their weapons at the ready in front of them.

They set off in the direction that the Jaffa had taken, reasoning that as long as there weren't other Jaffa lying in wait along the way, then being this far behind was both the safest way of avoiding detection and also the quickest way of discovering exactly what the Jaffa were up to. Hopefully they would remain undiscovered and could gain some vital intel on the strength of the presence aboard the ship.

The decision had been made - many years before - that should anyone have the opportunity to destroy Ba'al, once and for all, then appropriate risks could be taken. Ba'al, like Apophis before him, had become such a major thorn in the side of the SGC that the powers-that-be had decreed he be eliminated as and when such a chance arose.

The problem was that none of the team-mates on the ship were entirely sure whether the same fate had been decided for Osiris.

Osiris (in the body of Sarah Gardner) had aligned himself with 'the great lord Ba'al' but no-one within the SGC believed - not for one moment - that he wouldn't try to overthrow the other system lord should the chance arise. In doing so Osiris would not only gain himself a formidable fleet of ships and warriors, he would elevate himself straight to the top of the system lord hierarchy.

Everyone knew Ba'al by his reputation at being one of the most ruthless system lords of all time. Second possibly, only to Ra and certainly far higher up the chain than Apophis, Cronus and the many other Goa'uld's that the SGC had managed to de-throne in the last seven years or so. No-one expected 'the great lord Ba'al' to make an error in judgement regarding Osiris, but everyone realised that mistakes could happen. It would only take a momentary lack of concentration on Ba'al's part to leave an opening for Osiris who would undoubtedly take any opportunity presented to him and Ba'al would be no more.

During the hushed conversation on the planet below, it had been planned that, before they returned to the surface, the four comrades would plant C4 at strategic positions around the ship, to be detonated by remote control once the vessel assumed it's nightly orbit. Theoretically this would leave only Teal'c and his Jaffa guarding the Chamakan population, Ferretti and his team somewhere near the construction zone and the four marine's who were stationed at the gate. The remaining warriors hidden in the woods would then be flushed out and subdued, ready for Teal'c to transport them to Chulak. Once there they would be given the chance to either live free or join the fight against the false Gods that they had been raised to serve.


	33. Chapter 33

Sticks and Stones – Chapter 33 - by Emma Nisbet (grnfield)

It turned out that travelling around the ship undetected proved almost impossible for the four comrades. After initially following the three Jaffa they decided to go off in their own direction. Having to find somewhere to hide every twenty minutes became extremely draining and hindered their progress in regards to planting the C4 around the ship.

Realising that time was short it was decided that the four would split into two pairs, therefore enabling the more efficient placement of the explosive devices. Sam gave Sands and Davies a head start towards the pel'tak before carefully popping a control panel out of one of the walls in the corridor where she and Ferretti were hiding. By rearranging a couple of the glowing crystals inside the panel Sam started a gradual overload in the circuits. She pushed the panel back into the wall, nodded to Ferretti that she was done, and the pair of them quietly slipped away before the resulting explosion brought the Jaffa running towards their position.

As they hid in yet another insignificant storage room, they heard the control panel explode with a thunderous boom. They heard the hurriedly tramping feet of a Jaffa platoon run past their door and the shouted exclamations as to what had caused the blast. Sam overheard the word 'sabotage' being uttered a lot and heard Osiris's voice ordering the Jaffa to search the ship for intruders. She and Lou realised that their diversion, while being successful in keeping the Jaffa away from the pel'tak, had unfortunately alerted the Jaffa to their presence on the ship.

'Damn,' though Sam, she'd hoped the Jaffa would assume the panel had just overloaded but she'd unfortunately underestimated the level of paranoia that ran through both the Jaffa and the Goa'uld races. Apparently neither of them assumed that a simple mechanical error could have occurred and went straight for sabotage and infiltration being the cause of their problem.

Sam and Lou looked at one another as both realised their chosen hiding place was in no way far enough from the site of the explosion and that they needed to move - urgently. The problem was that there were now multiple Jaffa in the corridors outside the closet where the two Tau'ri were hiding and only one way into or out of the tiny room.

The pair crouched behind boxes and bundles and tried to make themselves as small and inconspicuous as possible. As they waited for what looked like inevitable discovery they could hear the Jaffa opening doors along from theirs and heard crashes and bangs as the warriors ruthlessly moved items out of their way in their quest to find those who would dare to insult their Gods by infiltrating his ship and causing such damage.

Sam knew that the systems she had caused to overload were non-vital to the operation of the Ha'tak, she'd targeted those particular systems deliberately as they were the least likely to raise suspicion. Had she wanted to, she could have affected many vital parts of the ship's administration. She could have disabled the shields, caused the unscheduled launch of some of the death gliders or she could have even caused the hyperdrive to overload. She would have never carried out this last option though as obviously it would have required a very brisk evacuation of the Ha'tak by all SGC personnel and would also have probably caused the deaths of most of the Chamakan people working on the base below them when ship finally the blew up.

"They're getting closer," Ferretti whispered to Sam, readjusting his grip on his P-90 as he fidgeted around in the confined space into which he'd tucked himself. "This isn't good…if you've got any great vanishing tricks then right about now would be a good time to demonstrate them. Can't see us getting out of this one without a scratch. Oh and Sam…?"

"Yeah," whispered Sam in reply, "I know. If we don't get back…it's been a pleasure working with you too, Sir."

The Italian chuckled at her formality, "Final hour, Sammie. Call me 'Lou'."

"Sure thing…Lou." She smiled, despite the situation, and her eyes scanned the room again as she huddled in her corner. Sam wasn't sure what but something attracted her attention in the ceiling. From the position she was sitting she could see the outline what looked like an access panel in the garish ceiling of the little storage room. Realising that the Jaffa could be onto them in a matter of moments she took the chance, left her hiding place and shot out into the middle of the room.

"Sam, what are you doing?" hissed Ferretti from his cramped position nearby.

"Hopefully creating that vanishing trick you asked for." Sam answered. "Come over here and lift me up, I can't reach."

Lou quickly crawled out of his spot and walked over to Sam rubbing his butt as he moved. He immediately saw what Sam was trying to reach and, bracing himself on one of the packing crates, hoisted Sam upwards until she could get to the panel.

With a satisfying click the panel dropped from the ceiling, hinged on one side like a trapdoor it was easily big enough to allow Sam access to the long shaft behind it. With a little help from Lou, below, she slithered inside then turned straight back around, braced her legs along the sides of the shaft and held her arm out to help Ferretti clamber into the shaft as well.

Once Lou was safely inside Sam reached down and grabbed the trapdoor. As she started to close it the door into the storage area swung open. Sam quickly closed the hatch until the two halves of the catch were touching. She knew it would make a noise when it snicked into place so, hardly daring to breathe, she held the hatch shut and willed the Jaffa not to notice anything out of the ordinary.

Luckily with the room below being so small it didn't take long for the two warriors to determine that there was no-one there. Neither of them looked up and soon left the room to continue their search, closing the door behind them as they went.

The two members of SG-2 looked at one another, shaking their heads in amazement. With a lot of luck and a bit of ingenuity they had escaped what looked like certain discovery - if not sudden death.

Sam pulled the hatch closed the rest of the way and the two friends allowed themselves a moment to breathe deeply and collect themselves before working out what the heck they were going to do next.


	34. Chapter 34

Sticks and Stones – Chapter 34 - by Emma Nisbet (grnfield)

Sam and Lou started to crawl slowly along the passage, their way lit only by shafts of light entering the passage through the air vents in the rooms below. The shaft and it's connecting passageways were cramped and claustrophobic but luckily both Sam and Ferretti were small enough to crawl along them without too many problems. At one point, when they reached a particularly tight angle, Lou sent up a quick thank-you to the heavens for his small Italian genes - had he been as muscular as his team-mate Greg Bell then he'd have been in serious risk of getting stuck trying to get around some of the unyielding corners.

After what seemed like hours of crawling through the twisting and turning tunnels neither Sam nor Lou had a clue which way they were going but both realised that stopping was out of the question. They kept on crawling, hoping that they would soon spot a recognisable landmark in one of the rooms as they passed over them.

Once they had got their bearings they decided to head for the pel'tak. Sands and Davies were supposed to have been on their way there to position some C4 close to the crystals near the main control console and neither Sam nor Lou had heard from them since. The resulting explosion, on what was equivalently the bridge of the large ship, would have been the most crucial factor in the destruction of the Ha'tak. Even if none of the other packets of C4 went off this one would have single-handedly crippled the vessel, rendering it uncontrollable and leaving it open to attack by any other ships that happened to pass by. The ring transporter would obviously still be a viable escape route but the only place any escapees could go would be down to the planet below. Their only option after that would be to head for the gate which was, at present, still guarded by the contingent of Marines. Both the Colonel and the Major hoped against hope, that the explosive device had been successfully put in place but realised that neither of them had a way of verifying whether it had or not.

#

A piercing alarm rendered the pair temporarily deaf as they crawled through the ducts serving the Jaffa sleeping quarters and Sam's heart plummeted as she immediately assumed Davies and Sands had been discovered. In the gloom of the tunnel she glanced at Lou and saw that, from the look on his face, he had obviously come to the same awful conclusion.

After a very short time they heard the rhythmic tramping of many Jaffa boots and the accompanying clanks and jangles that followed the large warriors wherever they went. Lying in their duct, Sam and Lou looked through an air vent, set into the ceiling of a corridor. As they passed underneath them, the pair counted the twenty-four Jaffa who had undoubtedly come up from the planet below.

Each of the warriors had their helmets retracted so their faces were on view and Sam noted that they appeared to look at ease - well as much at ease as could ever be said for the stoic faces of the enemy warriors. Looking at her watch she realised the two dozen warriors were right on time. Sam, Lou, Sands and Davies had spent much longer on the ship than they'd originally intended but Sam was buoyed by the fact that Teal'c and his men had obviously carried out their charade successfully and had not been discovered.

Not far past where Sam and Lou were hiding was a large pair of ornate doors. All twenty-four Jaffa passed through and the doors closed behind them, blocking them from view with a satisfying clunk.

Almost as soon as the doors closed a rumbling was felt throughout the ship. Sam gripped Lou's hand briefly as she realised the ship was preparing to lift off and assume it's nightly orbit around the planet. Ferretti gave her hand a gentle squeeze before setting off further down the passageway in an attempt to see exactly what the Jaffa had planned for the evening's entertainment.

They knew from their previous discussions with Teal'c that the Jaffa would have a suite of rooms in the Ha'tak purely for their own personal use. These rooms would be used for eating, sleeping and recreational purposes and the Goa'uld would never enter this part of the ship under any circumstances. Within these rooms the Jaffa were 'free' and equivalently off-duty; it was safe for them to bond with others in their unit and sparring matches and tournaments were common place. The Jaffa would remain within these rooms for the entire night and would not leave unless specifically summoned by their God.

Sam and Lou crept cautiously through the ducting above the Jaffa's main room. They headed for a large vent that was positioned roughly in the centre of the ceiling as this would enable them a clear view of the room below.

As they peered downwards their senses were almost overloaded with a riot of colours and odours. Large tables had been placed in the middle of the room and were piled high with food and drink of so many variations it almost made Sam's head spin with the decadence of it all. She saw that the shock she felt was also clear on Ferretti's facial features. Looking at the thin line of his tightly clenched lips she knew he was thinking the same thoughts that she was - the Jaffa were up here living the life of luxury with more food than they could conceivably eat over several nights while the Chamakans were being forced to sleep on the floor of a cold rocky valley with only one undersized meal of porridge to sustain them each day.

Neither Sam nor Lou could stomach the thought of seeing the Jaffa enjoying their meal while so many people were suffering on the planet below them. Neither Tau'ri had eaten in many hours but both felt nauseous at the thought of consuming anything at that time.

Silently they slunk back down the passage, only pausing once they cleared the Jaffa suite and reached the relative safety of the ducting above the corridor outside.

They stayed in the duct above the corridor for a while, verifying what Teal'c had told them before - that the Jaffa would remain in their rooms unless order out. When no movement was seen, and after a whispered discussion, Sam opened the nearest access hatch and Lou carefully lowered her down into the corridor. She grinned briefly to herself when she realised the stupidity of the Goa'uld - why had they had never thought of stealing CCTV technology from any of the many races that they had conquered?

Carefully she crept to the door behind which the two dozen large warriors were housed and swiftly deactivated the control panel. This would effectively lock the Jaffa inside the suite of rooms and therefore slow them down a great deal should the alarm be raised if Sam and Lou, or indeed Sands and Davies be discovered.

She returned to the hatch where she knew Lou was waiting in the ducting and after a bit of struggling and a few choice words they finally got Sam back up into the passageway. The two team-mates lay panting quietly in the duct and waited to get their breath back before setting off to find the other door to the Jaffa's rooms.

After a few false starts she and Lou managed to locate the far side of the Jaffa suite. They travelled quickly but quietly through the passages although by this time the Jaffa were far too worse for wear to care about a few random noises in the air vents above them.

It seemed the Jaffa had a vast supply of some type of seemingly alcoholic beverage and it looked like they were all very fond of it as well. Sam knew it couldn't actually be alcoholic because the symbiotes didn't react well to liquor so she wondered if this was gro'nak. Over the years Teal'c had regaled her with tales of when he had been in the service of Apophis and she remembered him mentioning a drink that allowed the Jaffa to become 'pleasantly inebriated' with no risk to the larval Goa'uld that they carried. Either way it couldn't be a bad thing that the Jaffa seemed to be under the influence of an intoxicating substance. Should they be called upon to fight then their ability would certainly be affected - this and the fact that the Jaffa were now effectively trapped with their quarters - were both good things in Sam's eyes.


	35. Chapter 35

Sticks and Stones – Chapter 35 - by Emma Nisbet (grnfield)

Sam thought that when the four members of the SGC had not returned before the sun had started to set, Teal'c would have realised something had gone awry. The large Jaffa would have been expecting a signal of some description, even just a couple of clicks on his radio would have assured him that his comrades had successfully left the ship and were back on the solid ground of Chamaka. Sam knew that Teal'c would have been worried sick when the Ha'tak had lifted off and she wasn't entirely sure what his next move would be, knowing that his friends were more than likely in extreme peril on the ship above them.

She realised there was no way Teal'c and the others could get onto the ship undetected and hoped that her friend wouldn't try anything rash in an attempt to reach her. His main goal was still to protect the Chamakan people after all. A task that would have been made much more simple once the Jaffa had delivered the workers to him and ringed back up onto the ship.

#

Down on the planet, Teal'c found himself in control of the Chamakan population.

Once the Jaffa who delivered the workers had left it became obvious that the Chamakans were not as subdued as they had been the previous night. During the course of the day Teal'c and the others had made contact with the girls in the ravine, telling them to prepare large amounts of extra food and asking that they pass the message to the returning workers that they were no longer alone. By the level of chatter in the ravine it was obvious that the message was getting through.

Once he was certain they were undetected by any enemy presence Teal'c ordered Reynolds and the others to remove their helmets and reveal themselves to the people of Chamakan. He had designated Reynolds as spokesman as the young man had a friendly face, and his cheerful personality put most people at ease. Teal'c himself stayed back towards the edge of the gulley so as not to alarm the villagers by his presence when they realised he was a true Jaffa.

Once Reynolds had introduced himself and his men he then motioned to Teal'c who stepped forwards. The large man was still wearing his full helmet and at this point he lowered it to reveal his face, complete with his gold-embossed tattoo.

The gasp that he'd been expecting when he revealed himself, a reaction that had followed his appearance for more years than he cared to admit, never happened. Teal'c realised that Reynolds had informed them that his colleague was a Jaffa and the Chamakans apparently knew exactly what to expect. Teal'c gave the young man a brief smile and a nod of thanks before he turned to face the remaining population of Chamaka.

He was distraught to find that there were only a couple of hundred natives present, out of the six or seven thousand who originally resided on this, the largest continent on the planet. Upon speaking to the people in the ravine it had been discovered that people had been collected from the farthest reaches of the continent, that nowhere appeared to have been spared and the mortality rate among the workers had been astronomical.

The Chamakans were used to hard work as they lived off the land on a day to day basis, but they had been completely unprepared for the brutality of the Jaffa. They had been forced to work on the building site or down the mines relentlessly. They had toiled in all weathers, with no rest breaks and barely enough food to sustain even the youngest child and the death toll had mounted higher and higher each day. Teal'c had seen the cartloads of bodies arriving in the evenings and knew they had been sent up a path that wound up behind the ravine and into the woods behind. He'd seen this before and knew that somewhere in the woods, or maybe in the hills further back, there was a mass grave, and that it was being filled with more and more Chamakan bodies every evening.

The remaining people were exhausted, both mentally and physically and after a quick head count Teal'c was heartbroken when he realised there weren't nearly enough people to make up a viable population. Apart from the tiny number of individuals, the proportions of men, women and children were completely wrong. Over half the people in the canyon were young-to-middle-aged men, obviously the strongest of the workers who had presumably been captured later than most. Over two thirds of the remaining people were youngsters leaving only twenty five or so women in total. Of these twenty five it was highly likely that most would not survive another day in the construction site and this knowledge tore at Teal'c's heart.

Obviously there were more people on the other land masses of Chamaka but Teal'c was aware that the numbers there were few. He knew that at the present time, even if the SGC were to relocate them to another planet, then the Chamakan people would have to merge with another civilisation to stand any chance of survival. It wasn't something that he could do anything about but the gentle warrior still worried about the now impoverished people and was sad for all they had lost.

Teal'c looked out over the canyon, with a heavy heart. He looked at each of the expectant faces, all of whom were gazing towards him and waiting for him to speak. Most of the Chamakan population stood before him, clearly hoping that this reformed warrior would be their salvation. Teal'c took a deep breath and addressed them:

"People of Chamaka, be assured that you are no longer alone. The Tau'ri of Earth are present on your planet and even now are planning to overthrow the false Gods who have enslaved you all. It is my desire to see no more of you perish, either in the construction area or the mines in which you have been forced to labour. The five Jaffa that you see with me now are warriors of the Tau'ri and I myself have also pledged my allegiance to their cause. This cause being the destruction and systematic eradication of the Goa'uld System Lords. For too many years these false Gods have wreaked their chaos on the galaxy but I believe the warriors of the Tau'ri, along with as many races as are able to help, will finally be able to rid the galaxy of their tyranny once and for all."

An awed silence fell on the ravine as Teal'c paused to let his words sink in. He let his gaze glide over the people before continuing:

"The young people of your race have prepared adequate nourishment for you all. Once you have eaten I require you to rest for several hours. Three of my warriors will guard the ravine at all times while the other three will scout the area for any Jaffa that may wish to cause harm to you. Once we are certain the path is safe to traverse we shall escort you to the Chappa'ai and grant you secure passage to the Tau'ri homeworld. Once there, medical attention will be given to those of you who require it and those of you fit enough to travel again will most probably be transported to one of the Tau'ri safe-worlds where you shall remain until it is safe to return here."

A hushed murmuring was heard as this. Teal'c raised his hands to hush the crowd. "Please, I request that you now go and take nourishment before you rest your weary bodies. We have a great deal of distance to travel and the terrain is not easy between here and the Chappa'ai. It would be prudent that we are away from this place before the moon reaches it's apex and, if possible, be through the Chappa'ai before daybreak. I understand that the journey will be hard and I fully expect you to assist one another in keeping up the pace that is set. I should not need to remind you that should we find ourselves still on the planet once the sun has risen then all our lives will be in grave danger."

Teal'c turned and motioned to Reynolds to organise the Chamakan people so they could all be fed and watered efficiently. The large warrior took a moment to look up at the stars and picked out the slowly moving spot that was the Ha'tak vessel in orbit. Sending a prayer up for his friends safe return, he slowly turned around, called two of his false Jaffa to him and set off to clear a safe path towards the Stargate.


	36. Chapter 36

Sticks and Stones - Chapter 36 - by Emma Nisbet (grnfield)

Over the next few hours Teal'c and his men walked the start of the route from the ravine back towards the Stargate. Having completed the journey between the ravine, construction zone and mine, several times in the last two days they found no resistance there but once they got into the more densely wooded area they encountered several groups of Jaffa who were completely unprepared for any attacks and were efficiently dispatched with no real difficulties.

Once he was as certain as he could be that the Chamakan people would encounter no hostile forces on the start of their long trek to the gate Teal'c returned to the ravine.

When he arrived he was glad to see that Reynolds had successfully persuaded the exhausted Chamakan people to rest and that most of them were fast asleep, huddled under the myriad of blankets and furs that lay around the ravine. Other than these feeble coverings, the Jaffa had provided no shelter for their captives. Teal'c knew from experience that the warriors would not care if the Chamakans perished due to exposure to the elements - they would simply go and collect more able-bodied workers from the surrounding villages to replace the dead or dying.

Before he became the shol'va, Teal'c had helped his fellow Jaffa in tasks such as this, he and his comrades had emptied entire worlds of their people and worked them to their deaths until none remained. Usually whatever task had been set would have been finished by that time but should the Jaffa have found they had run out of workers prematurely then it was a simple task to travel by Ha'tak to the nearest inhabited planet and acquire an additional work force. Once the job had been completed, more-often-than-not the Jaffa would pick out the strongest of the surviving workers and load them back onto the Ha'tak before lifting off and systematically wiping out the remaining captives on the planet below. This gave the Jaffa a ready-built work force for whatever task they were assigned next, and also ensured that their Goa'uld continued to be known for being a ruthless God that should never be crossed.

#

Standing at the entrance to the ravine, Teal'c quietly surveyed the pitiful remains of the peaceful people of Chamaka. The sheer, grey rocky sides of the canyon provided some shelter from the winds, and also a little from the rain but, other than the blankets, the only real warmth offered to these men, women and children came from the small fires, started by the SGC soldiers, around which the sleeping people were huddled.

Very soon Reynolds finished his circuit of the perimeter and approached the brooding Jaffa. The Colonel could see that Teal'c was clearly deep in thought and stopped in front of the large man, within his line of sight but at a safe distance, and patiently waited for his comrade to return to the present time.

#

Teal'c's eyes settled upon Colonel Reynolds and his face softened slightly.

"You have done well, ColonelReynolds. The Chamakan people appear to have acknowledged your guidance and settled down to their respite as requested. We shall allow most of them sleep for maybe another hour but several of the strongest males will need to be enlisted immediately so they can assist with the preparations required to leave this place."

"Thank you, Sir. And certainly I'll get them for you." Reynolds replied. "I'll do that straight away, Sir."

Teal'c raised an eyebrow at the Colonel who was still standing in front of him. "Are you requiring my presence on another matter, ColonelReynolds?"

"What?" the Colonel replied, suddenly looking around himself and realising that he didn't actually need Teal'c to dismiss him. "Er, no…sorry, Sir. Going now…I'll be back with some of the most able bodied men shortly Sir."

Teal'c other eyebrow now raised up to meet its partner and the large Jaffa once again cast his gaze on the spluttering Colonel.

Reynolds immediately shut up and, blushing furiously, turned and scuttled away to find the strongest and fittest of the Chamakan people. He had no need to call Teal'c 'sir' and certainly didn't need to wait to be dismissed by the formidable warrior but something about the much larger man had always thrown Reynolds into a state of disarray. He knew that Colonel O'Neill had trusted Teal'c with not only his life but with those of the rest of SG-1 for many years but secretly part of Reynolds was glad that Teal'c had been placed with SG-2 as opposed to SG-3. Truthfully he wasn't sure if he'd have been able to give orders to a man almost three times his age and with infinitely more experience in the field. As it was, every time he had to work with Teal'c, Reynolds found himself acting like some inexperienced Sergeant instead of the full bird Colonel that he really was.

Teal'c followed the other man with a smile twinkling in his eyes, he knew the effect he had on some members of the SGC and he always tried his hardest to put them at ease. Unfortunately with certain individuals this didn't always prove to be successful - with Colonel Reynolds being one of the worst examples of this. With his small blunder Colonel Reynolds had successfully separated Teal'c from his bad memories and the Jaffa went down into the canyon with a heart slightly lighter than it had been just five minutes before.

#

Once Colonel Reynolds had woken the fittest of the Chamakan men he gathered them near to the edge of the canyon where Teal'c and Sergeant Bell met them. Corporal Franks and Sergeant Grimm were patrolling the area above the ravine even though Teal'c was pretty certain that no Jaffa remained in the immediate vicinity.

Teal'c quickly explained to the men that the other Chamakans would have to be woken soon so they could be moved back towards the gate, and eventually the safety of the SGC. There were a lot of sick and injured people currently in the ravine who wouldn't be able to walk at the required pace and he asked for suggestions to make the journey safer and easier for all those involved.

Teal'c had an idea in mind himself but in his eyes it was an unpleasant plan and he decided that he would rather not distress the people with by suggesting it. Therefore he was glad when Daroli, a burly Chamakan man with long black hair, put forward the notion that they utilise the carts they had used to transport bodies to their final resting places. All the straw would be cleared out and the carts made as sanitary as possible before the elderly and infirm were loaded into them, along with the blankets and furs that currently covered the sleeping Chamakans.

#

They made good time stripping, cleaning and preparing the carts and very soon they started rousing the sleeping people and were ready to set off.

Teal'c, Bell and Nicholson took up the front of the party, in their full Jaffa armour. The Chamakans followed behind and Reynolds, Franks and Bell brought up the rear, also in full armour. The idea was that if they were challenged by any Jaffa along the way then the three people at the challenged end could claim they were moving the people under orders of their God. The three disguised SGC members from the other end could hopefully come round behind the Jaffa and eliminated any threat that they posed.

The Chamakan men took it in turns pulling the carts through the woods. Several times they had to back track to work out a better route round a particularly dense area of trees and they finally approached the Stargate just before dawn. There was a tense moment when the marines at the gate saw them approaching and assumed defensive positions. Luckily after a brief moment of panic for all concerned, Teal'c managed to remove the face of his helmet and the marines breathed a sigh of relief when they realised who was there.

The men of Chamaka carefully help the occupants from the carts and assisted the marines in escorting everyone through the wormhole to the SGC. A couple of the men hung back to speak to Teal'c and thank him for saving them.

Daroli, the dark haired man who had suggested using that carts, questioned Teal'c as to what he would do next.

Teal'c replied honestly, saying: "Once you are safely through the Chappa'ai, I hope to return here as I most desire to learn the fate of my Tau'ri sister and her brothers-in-arms. They have not returned from their venture aboard the Ha'tak vessel and I cannot desert them when it may be they have been captured and therefore be at the mercy of the System Lord, Ba'al."

Daroli grimaced at the thought that Teal'c's comrades may have been captured or killed in the course of freeing the Chamakan population from slavery. He made a pledge to Teal'c that if there was any way he or his fellow Chamakans could help then the 'mighty warrior' was only to ask and they would do their best to assist him.

Teal'c bowed his acknowledgement to the grateful man and realised that, other than the four marines, they were the last ones standing near the still active gate.

Teal'c gestured towards the gate and gave Daroli a gentle push in the right direction. The young man got the idea and warily stepped through the wormhole. Teal'c turned to the marines and was informed that, until further orders came through, they would be guarding the gate. Four SG team members were still unaccounted for and unless rescue was absolutely impossible no-one would be left behind.

Teal'c stepped onto the dais upon which the Stargate stood and sorrowfully looked up at the sky. He once again located the Ha'tak and sent up a silent prayer to his friends to stay safe until a rescue plan could be put into action. He followed the prayer with a vow that should they be mistreated in any way while in the company of the Goa'uld then said Goa'uld would have to suffer the wrath of Teal'c. Not only Teal'c but bearing in mind Samantha Carter was one of the ones on the Ha'tak, then undoubtably the super-powered wrath of a certain Colonel Jack O'Neill would also fall heavily on their heads too.

Then Teal'c lowered his eyes from the sky, nodded to the marines and stepped back through the gate to Earth.


	37. Chapter 37

Sticks and Stones - Chapter 37 - by Emma Nisbet (grnfield)

Aboard the Ha'tak vessel all was suspiciously quiet. Sam and Lou tentatively began to hope that the Jaffa not currently locked in their quarters had given up their search for possible saboteurs. Their now-somewhat-inebriated friends obviously couldn't care less about possible insurgents on board their ship. They were far more interested in feasting the night away and drinking themselves into a gro'nak induced stupor until morning.

Sam wondered once again about the wisdom of the Goa'uld System Lords. Allowing the greatest portion of your armed guard to incapacitate themselves for the night just couldn't be good and Sam was beginning to wonder whether the reports that this ship was ruled by Ba'al were actually correct. She just couldn't see such a ruthless 'God' making such a grave error of judgement. Ba'al was, after all, just about the head honcho among the System Lords at the moment. He surely couldn't have got where he was today if he continually made critical errors such as that one.

Thinking back to the Jaffa she had seen gathered around the table Sam realised that she had seen the insignia of many different System Lords adorning their foreheads. There was no one particular tattoo that stood out as being more prevalent than any other and Sam just couldn't imagine what Ba'al would want with such a mixed bunch of warriors. His Jaffa were always immaculately turned out, as was the System Lord himself, and his vast fleet of ships was always maintained to perfection. This all lead Sam to wonder whether Ba'al had presented this rag-tag group of Jaffa to Osiris, to ensure the low ranking System Lord's continued loyalty.

#

It remained quiet on the ship for several hours, so Sam and Ferretti took the opportunity to do a bit more sabotage. They crawled through the cramped tunnels and placed some more C4, with remote detonators, in hidden spots around the ship. Once they exhausted their supply of explosives, Sam set to work attacking the ships systems internally. This time though she was extremely careful that her handiwork would not be detected and, in time, successfully disabled the ships hyperdrive. Once she was certain that the Ha'tak couldn't suddenly fly off with them on board she fiddled with the power settings on the transport rings until she was pretty certain that the vessel would only need to be just inside the atmosphere for the rings to be able to safely reach the surface of the planet. As an escape route it wasn't ideal but at present it was the best she could do.

#

The problem the two Tau'ri in the tunnels then encountered was what to do next. Sam had done all she could safely do in terms of sabotaging the ship, they had both run out of C4 and to make matters worse they still had no idea of the whereabouts of Jimmy Sands or Mickey Davies.

Before they could make a decision as to where to go next the blaring alarm once again sounded around them. The foul noise continued for almost fifteen minutes until it abruptly ceased.

Once they could hear again and after a muttered discussion, Sam and Lou decided to once again head for the pel'tak of the ship, having been stopped from doing so before by the Jaffa arriving from the planet and the subsequent lifting off of the ship. The pel'tak was the last known destination of their team-mates so it was still the most logical place to start their search for them but they both dreaded what they might find once they got there.

That alarm had sounded for a reason but the ship was safely in orbit and there were no Jaffa running around the corridors as there would have been had the ship been under attack. That only really left two possibilities: one - that Sam's sabotage had been discovered or two - that Sands and/or Davies had been captured. The first possibility would still have caused the Jaffa to be storming the corridors as they had earlier so unfortunately the second option seemed more likely. If the Jaffa thought they had captured all saboteurs from earlier that evening then they would have no reason to search the ship for more.

Sands and Davies were in trouble - Sam and Lou were certain of it and with heavy hearts they set off on the long crawl towards the pel'tak.

#

It took another couple of hours before Sam and Lou finally approached the area at the front of the ship where they knew the pel'tak to be located. Wincing at their sore knees and raw blistered hands they crept slowly forwards until they were finally at the edge of the main control room for the ship. Once there they lay on their bellies and looked carefully through the vent into the room. What they saw made their stomach's drop into their boots.

A squad of six Jaffa were kneeling before the Goa'uld Osiris. Residing in the body of Sarah Gardner the System Lord was currently pacing backwards and forwards in front of the huge window that took up most of the far wall of the ornate control room. It wasn't the sight of the furious expression on Sarah's usually beautiful alabaster face that was upsetting Sam and Lou though, their distress was being caused by the sight of two figures slumped side-by-side together on the floor between the Jaffa and the Goa'uld. Even from the other side of the room they were obviously the two unconscious bodies of Lieutenants Sands and Davies.

#

Sam had trouble holding onto the contents of her stomach and from the look on his face Ferretti was having the same trouble. At this point she was glad that neither her nor Lou had eaten more than a couple of bites of powerbar since they'd ringed up to the ship. Had they consumed anything more then it would have certainly made a reappearance in the ducting above the pel'tak.

Both Sands and Davies had obviously been badly beaten in the hours since they'd been captured. Whether Osiris had observed the interrogation or had just left the two to the mercies of the Jaffa, Sam and Lou just simply didn't know but they theorised that the Jaffa had only recently presented the System Lord with the prisoners. There was barely a patch of visible skin on the two soldiers that wasn't bloodied or bruiser to some extent. The Jaffa had certainly done their job as thoroughly as they could, and pulled out all the stops with their torturous efforts.

As they watched Sands began to stir. The young Lieutenant mumbled incoherently and Osiris halted his relentless pacing and strode towards the stricken man. Grabbing Sands by his short hair, Osiris tilted the young man's head back to an uncomfortable angle and looked him directly in the eye.

"Ah, Tau'ri, you have decided to grace us with your presence at last. I admit I was more than a little surprised when my Jaffa came and informed me they had apprehended two Tau'ri soldiers within the confines of my ship. Carrying out discussions with your kind was not part of my plan while on this planet but a God should never knowingly pass up an opportunity so perfectly presented to him. On this occasion I shall leave my Jaffa to supervise the creation of my base and will take my pleasure with you feeble creatures for a while."

Osiris paused to cast his gaze over the six Jaffa, reminding the captive Sands just how heavily guarded he was. "My warriors inform me that you have been most reluctant to converse with them and that you and your comrade here…" Osiris prodded the motionless form of Davies with the pointed toe of Sarah's diamond encrusted sandals. The young man groaned and curled up into an even tighter ball. "…have been punished for your disobedience in this matter. Well, puny little Tau'ri, believe me when I tell you that as a God I can inflict much greater pain on your person than any Jaffa. You and your people will enter negotiations with me, or you two will be punished further."

To emphasise the point Osiris raised his ribbon device and flexed his fingers menacingly in front of Sand's eyes.

"What…what…" Sands gasped, speaking being almost impossible due to the angle his head was currently being held at. "…what is it that you want?"

"Now you see, that wasn't so hard was it?" Osiris drawled, and ran the tips of his metal clad fingers gentle down the side of Jimmy's face in a parody of a lovers caress. "What I want is simple…What I want is SG-1."


	38. Chapter 38

Sticks and Stones - Chapter 38 - by Emma Nisbet (grnfield)

# Chapter warning - death of a (minor) character in this chapter #

Sam and Lou stifled gasps and looked at each other in confusion as Osiris voiced his desire. Trapped as they were in the tunnels they could do nothing to help the two Lieutenants below them. Davies had mercifully remained unconscious until this point but Sam noticed that his eyes were now open and that he was silently watching Sands being held at the mercy of Osiris.

As they watched it became clear that that the System Lord was expecting a reply from the terrified Jimmy Sands.

When no reply was immediately forthcoming the Goa'uld slid his gold encased hand further down Jimmy's face until he had the young man gripped tightly around the throat. Squeezing hard enough to impede the Lieutenants breathing Osiris also kept up the pressure on the young mans hair with his other hand and leant right down until the pair were eye to eye.

"I said…" he hissed, "That I want SG-1. I do not expect silence in reply to my request. You will answer when you are spoken to."

Struggling for air and panicking badly, Sands started to splutter. Osiris slowly loosened the death grip around his throat finally allowing the young man to speak.

"Th…th…there is no SG-1," he gasped.

Osiris's eyes flared and he let out an infuriated roar. Without a moments hesitation he stood up to Sarah's full height and used his Goa'uld supplied strength to pull Sands up by the throat. The young man automatically found his feet but then coughed and frantically started to claw at Sarah's slender arm as he slowly started to suffocate.

Davies could stand by no longer and attempted to rise to his knees to help his friend. The Jaffa noticed his movements and immediately the terrified young man found himself lifted to his feet and held between two huge warriors. With his choke hold still around Sand's neck, Osiris looked over at him with distain and under his scrutiny Davies promptly became a quivering wreck.

"You Tau'ri will defy me no longer. I warned you that I could inflict a far greater pain than my Jaffa and you will not lie to me again. I want you to tell me the gate address where SG-1 can currently be located, and I want you to tell me now."

"B…b…but…" Lieutenant Davies was by now panicking so badly that he could barely speak.

"You…Will…Tell…Me…Now." Osiris spoke, punctuating each work with a flexing of his hand around Sands' throat. The young man was barely conscious by now and had stopped scrabbling against the arm that held him. As Osiris squeezed harder his eyes started to roll back in his head and the only thing stopping him crashing to the floor was the hand around his neck.

Davies squeezed his eyes shut, trying to cut out the awful vision of his friend's suffocation. Hesitantly he said, "I…I…can't…I…can't…can't tell you w…what you…you want to know. I can't…can't…r…r…really I can't."

Osiris flew into a frenzy at this. In a moment the petite body of Sarah Gardner lifter poor Jimmy Sands clear off the ground by his throat and shook him - hard. Sam and Ferretti heard his neck snap from their hiding place in the ceiling and both had tears shimmering in their eyes as they saw Osiris discard the now-limp body and toss it aside like a piece of garbage.

The sight proved too much for Mickey Davies and his legs gave way beneath him. Held up only by the two Jaffa who were flanking him the young man dissolved into sobs. "I…it's t…t…true. There is n…n…no SG-1."


	39. Chapter 39

Sticks and Stones - Chapter 39 - by Emma Nisbet (grnfield)

Osiris turned towards the sobbing man with a look of disgust on his face.

"Take this pathetic excuse for a soldier away," he ordered the closest Jaffa. "Maybe a couple of days in the cells will loosen his tongue."

"Yes, my Lord," the Jaffa replied in unison. "As you wish."

Osiris nodded and used his hand to gesture at the doorway dismissing the warriors.

As they turned to leave he called them back. "…And do something with thatat the same time," he said, pointing at the crumpled body of Jimmy Sands. "I want it out of my sight immediately."

One of the burly warriors moved out from behind the two who were still supporting Davies. He walked over to Sands and carelessly slung the young man's body over his shoulder in a sloppy fireman's lift. He then immediately headed towards the door with his load.

"Put them both in the same cell. I think it might be quite amusing to see this young one sing for his life after spending some quality time with his 'friend' here."

Davies was trying valiantly to remain silent but let out a whimper as Osiris ordered the Jaffa to leave him with the body of his comrade. Osiris merely smirked and let out an awful cackling laugh.

"You Tau'ri truly are a feeble race," he said. "Do you actually believe that death is the end? Do you not believe that as a God I may have the power to send your friend to a better place? A place where he will be shown the error of his ways and be tutored in the art of correct behaviour while in the presence of his beloved God. Do you not believe that I have the power to retrieve him from such a place again if I see fit?"

Osiris glared at Davies but obviously realised the young man was in no fit state to answer any questions, whether he wanted to or not.

"Bah, why am I wasting my time with this? Jaffa, take him away. I will be in my chambers and I do not wish to be disturbed."

The three Jaffa finally moved through the doorway as Osiris turned and flounced across the room, heading towards the door on the far side of the room. The remaining three Jaffa started to follow as they were scheduled to be stationed outside Osiris's chambers all night, ready to pander to his every whim until they were relieved the next morning.

#

Sam and Lou had effectively been trapped in the air-vent once they had discovered the System Lord in the room below. Unable to move silently through the ducts they had been forced to remain still and had therefore seen and heard all the goings on in the room below.

To cross the room Osiris had to pass under the air-vent where the two were sitting. Whether he heard something or sensed the Naquadah in Sam's blood, wasn't clear but as he passed under the vent he very suddenly stopped and looked upwards.

He looked directly up through the grating in the vent into the dark tube beyond. Unknowingly he looked straight at Sam who instinctively flinched as the beautiful brown eyes of Sarah Gardner gazed up at her. It was just a tiny movement but this was all the System Lord needed to confirm that someone was in the ducting.

"Jaffa, kree. It seems we have vermin in the ventilation system. Drop the ship into the atmosphere and carry out standard decontamination procedure. Vent the entire system…twice, just to be sure. Anyone foolish enough to remain in the ceiling cavities will be travelling down to the planet by a somewhat less comfortable route than they may have originally expected. I wonder which would kill them first…the exposure, or the ground. I think that may be quite a pleasing experiment." Osiris let out another cackle.

As he turned to dismiss the Jaffa he seemed to pause and think for a moment. "On the other hand…If these are more Tau'ri, from the 'mighty SGC'…Jaffa, go and fetch me that snivelling prisoner. If there are indeed Tau'ri in the ventilation system then I will soon know about it."

A panicked look shot between Sam and Lou. Very slowly, and out of sight of the vent, Lou shook his head. They would find out what Osiris had in mind before deciding on their next course of action. Osiris was currently unsure just who or what he had in the ducting and the pair intended to keep it that way for as long as possible.

One of the Jaffa hurried out of the door and his footsteps were heard disappearing down the corridor as he rushed to retrieve his comrades and their prisoner.

#

After only a few minutes the Jaffa returned, followed by his three brothers-in-arms. Two were dragging the weakly struggling form of Mickey Davies and the third had returned still carrying the body of Jimmy Sands.

When Osiris saw this his eyes lit with glee. "Oh, well done, Jaffa. You shall be rewarded for that piece of forward thinking, I may even make you my next First Prime."

"Thank you my Lord." The Jaffa dumped Sands onto the floor, right next to where Davies now sat, and bowed low in front of Osiris. He waited for Osiris's signal then returned to full height and stood beside his comrades, awaiting his next order.

"Tau'ri." Osiris addressed the air vent. "I have one remaining live example of your kind here and I'm sure you would like him back. I'm certain you witnessed what I am capable of when I am displeased and I don't suppose for one moment that you wish me to become displeased again. This feeble creature seems to be in some distress already and I wouldn't expect him to survive long under the full force of my hand device. I might even have to focus less power onto him, I mean it does spoil the fun if the captive dies almost straight away. I'm confident that if I am very careful I could keep him alive for many days. Many uncomfortable and pain filled days…"

With that Osiris spun round and aimed the ribbon device directly in the centre of Davies's forehead. The young man scrunched his eyes up and waited for the pain to hit.

#

When it hit, the pain was nothing like anything Mickey had experienced before. Try as he might he couldn't help the gut-wrenching scream as it tore from his throat. This was only his third mission with SG-3 and as his life started flashing before his eyes, Mickey thought it was undoubtedly going to be his last.

Sam looked at Lou with tears in her eyes. The pair of them knew they were stuck between a rock and a hard place. Whatever they decided, they were going to lose. If they didn't give themselves up then Davies was going to die, in pain and fear, just as Sands had before him. Neither Sam nor Lou were in any doubt that once Osiris tired of his little game with the hand device that he would discard the young man and order the ducts to be vented to dispose of whomever was hidden in them. There was no way a human could survive such an event so the two people in the duct made the only decision open to them - they kicked open the air-vent, lowered themselves into the room, and handed themselves over to Osiris.


	40. Chapter 40

Sticks and Stones - Chapter 40 - by Emma Nisbet (grnfield)

Osiris watched with glee as the air vent clattered to the floor to be replaced by a large pair of booted feet. The boots were followed by a pair of olive green legs and eventually by the rest of Lou Ferretti.

As he dropped to the floor Lou scowled at the System Lord before turning back to the hole in the ceiling and helping Sam down into the room.

Osiris's eyes were drawn upwards as Sam's blonde head emerged from the now-destroyed air vent. Once the young woman was on the ground, she composed herself and turned to face the Goa'uld. The knowledge that she was one of the four people that Osiris desired most dearly didn't fill her with confidence, all she could hope for at present was that Osiris would keep them alive until the SGC could mount a rescue. There was no way Jack would to let her go without a fight - probably to the death - and in the back of her mind Sam wondered if Osiris truly realised what he had let himself in for.

The Goa'uld's eyes flashed as Sam turned to face him. "Well, well, Samantha Carter. What a lovely surprise. When I sensed a weak presence above me earlier I had assumed that these two Tau'ri…" Osiris paused and waved a hand in the general direction of Mickey Davies who was huddled on the floor next to the broken body of Jimmy Sands. "…I assumed they had enlisted the help of one of the Tok'ra." Osiris spat the last word out with distain as if the mere mention of the enemy of the Goa'uld left a sour taste in his mouth.

"Little could I have known that one of the infamous SG-1 was onboard my vessel and indeed watching my every move. Samantha, I am disappointed that you did not wish to help your friends. There is no way that you could not have heard me requesting an audience with SG-1 and yet you let this pathetic toy soldier lie to me. You let him lie to the great God Osiris."

Sam opened her mouth to speak but Osiris immediately raised his ribbon-device-clad hand to silence her. Sam wisely closed her mouth before the device was activated.

"No, Samantha. You will not interrupt your God. Now, as I was saying, this Tau'ri…" Osiris turned and non-to-delicately used his foot to push Sands onto his back. Once the man was lying in a supine position his name - stitched into his jacket - came clearly into view. This is obviously what Osiris was looking for as he immediately turned back towards Sam and Lou.

"This…Sands - as you obviously know him - felt that he could insult me by lying about the very existence of SG-1. And then this one…" Osiris turned and glared at Davies, who visibly shrank back, placing himself behind the body of his fallen comrade. "…also attempted to feed me the same lies. What foolish mockery are you training your people now? Do you not realise that lying to your God is a sure-fire path to damnation? To lie about the very existence of our long-fought enemy to insinuate that we Gods are the ones who are lying. We have been fighting with the Tau'ri for many years and SG-1 more than any of you. Samantha, just the fact that you are standing before me proves that what I am saying is true. So…just what do you have to say about that?"

Sam just stood there, in front of Osiris, not really knowing how to answer. She knew that Sands and Davies had been telling the truth and didn't want to rile the obviously unstable System Lord any more than she had to.

"Come, Samantha, speak to me. Do not keep your God waiting." Osiris gracefully stepped over Jimmy Sand's body and crouched beside Mickey Davies. The young man watched the false God's every move but was still shocked when the delicate hand of Sarah Gardner clutched his hair and held his head firmly so he couldn't move.

Sam squeaked as Osiris bent Mickey's head towards them and Lou automatically took a step forward to shield her from the view.

Osiris let out a laugh laced with pure evil. "You Tau'ri are most amusing. Just how do you think you can protect Samantha Carter? With your body? I would think that by now you would realise there is no protection to be had by that. I am still waiting for a reply from you, Samantha Carter. Are you trying to provoke me? Where are the rest of SG-1 and why did these two insist on telling me that such a team does not exist?"

Sam put her hand on Lou's back as she stepped out from behind him, partially to ground herself and partially to let the feisty Italian know she wasn't about to do anything stupid. She moved slowly to his side but then stopped and made no move towards the System Lord and the frightened face of Mickey Davies.

"Well…?" drawled Osiris. "What do you have to say for yourself?"

Sam glanced questioningly towards Ferretti who nodded briefly in reply.

She bravely pulled herself straight and locked eyes with the imposing figure of Osiris. "W…w…what they were…were saying…wa…wa…" She stopped, too aware of what the System Lord would do to Mickey if she didn't like what Sam had to say.

"Go on, Samantha." Osiris warned, pulling Mickey's head back further and running the tips of the hand device gently down his throat and over his adam's apple. "Tell me what I want to know, or this one's life will become much less pleasant."

Sam could hear Mickey's breaths increase in speed as the young man panicked for his life once again.

She looked pleadingly at Osiris. "Please, please let him go. Take me instead, if you want. Just…please let him go."

"Sam," came Ferretti's urgent whisper from her side. "What the hell are you doin'?"

Sam turned briefly to him, "It'll be OK, Lou. Trust me." Sam only hoped that she was right and that as Osiris hadn't immediately killed her when she left the vent, and had announced that he wanted SG-1, that she may be safe - at least for a while. Turning back to the System Lord she spoke again, "Osiris, please. Being the benevolent God that you are, please grant this young man his life."

Sam watched as a Osiris thought this through. Slowly the false God released the quivering Mickey Davies and gracefully stood up to his full height. Mickey dropped to the floor and immediately scooted as far away from Osiris as he could. When he found himself at the feet of one of the huge Jaffa warriors he shuddered, then curled into a ball and lay still.

Sam breathed a shallow sigh of relief when she saw that Mickey was temporarily out of Osiris's hands. Her breath caught in her throat however when she realised that Osiris's full attention was now on her.

The System Lord stalked over to Sam and placed his middle, gold-tipped finger under her chin, lifting Sam's head up so they were eye to eye. "There, there, Samantha. I have done as you asked. The young man is safe… for now. And, if you cooperate, then he will stay that way. Agreed?"

"A…agreed." Sam replied, quietly.

"Sam," Lou hissed again.

"You…you will remain silent." Osiris directed this towards Lou. "Or things could become…unpleasant." With this comment Osiris dug the tip of the hand device deeper into the soft area under Sam's chin, allowing a small trickle of blood to run down her neck and soak into the top of her T-shirt.

On hearing Sam's sharp intake of breath at the sudden pain Lou backed away slightly. "Silent…right, OK."

Osiris laughed again. "Tau'ri…loyal until the end." Turning back to Sam, he said, "Now, Samantha, I believe you wished to speak to me."

Sam cast wild eyes around the room before Osiris firmly directed those wary blue eyes back towards the deep brown ones of Sarah Gardner. "Samantha, there is no need to be afraid. If you tell me what I want to know I shall not harm you or your friends. Need I remind you that defiance will be punished, whereas compliance will be rewarded."

Unable to stop himself, Lou snorted at this. Osiris flashed a glare at him and he immediately dropped his eyes to the floor and mumbled an apology.

"That's better." Osiris announced. Turning back to Sam the delicately sculpted eyebrows of Sarah Gardner raised in question.

"I…I can only tell you the truth." Sam said, falteringly.

"That, my dear Samantha, is all I am asking of you." Osiris replied, as he began stroking Sam's chin with the index finger of his gold-encased hand. Running the finger again, and again through the small trail of blood running down the young woman's neck Sam realised a feral look had appeared in those chocolate brown eyes.

"They…the others…they were telling you the truth. SG-1…SG-1…There is no SG-1 any more." Sam said, her words getting quieter as she went on. "There hasn't been for the best part of a year."


	41. Chapter 41

Sticks and Stones - Chapter 41 - by Emma Nisbet (grnfield)

Osiris's eyes tightened until they were mere slits. "You lie," he raged, and lifted Sam higher by digging the finger further into her chin. The blood ran freely down the young woman's neck now and Sam supported herself on her tiptoes to take as much pressure off her neck as possible.

"Hey," Lou shouted. "Why won't you believe her. Everyone's tried telling you the same thing and I'll tell you too. SG-1 is finished. No more. Gone. Forever."

A glimmer of doubt crossed Osiris's eyes as they fixed themselves Lou. Slowly he lowered Sam back down and stepped backwards, away from the two team-mates. "Explain yourself. How can this be true?"

"It is true, o…officially there's been no SG-1 for nearly nine months, but…but really it was gone months before that." Sam said quietly.

"But you…you are on SG-1. You are here, surely that proves that you are lying?" Osiris asked, clearly getting annoyed again.

"No…no. You're wrong." Sam replied. "You're not listening, I'm…I'm not on SG-1 any more. SG-1 doesn't exist…I'm part of SG-2 now."

Osiris shook his head in frustration, the honey-blonde curls of Sarah Gardner settling over one shoulder. "How can you expect me to believe what you say. All the Goa'uld know that you Tau'ri cannot be trusted."

"How…how…" Sam stammered, trying to come up with an adequate way of 'proving' this to the irate System Lord. Suddenly she remembered the patch on her arm, sure this wasn't sure-fire proof of what she was saying but it was the best she could come up with at short notice.

"Look," she said, holding out her arm for inspection. "SG-2. I am part of SG-2. This is my Commanding Officer, Lou Ferretti."

Lou held out his arm so Osiris could also see his patch. "The young man there, that you killed so callously, was called Jimmy Sands. He was also one of my men on SG-2."

"And what of the fourth? Not one of your own?" Osiris asked, looking over at the man still curled at the feet of one of the Jaffa.

"Mickey Davies," replied Sam, softly. "He's from SG-3. And before you ask, we're the only ones aboard the ship. The others were down on the planet but I'm pretty sure they'll be gone now. When we didn't return last night they would have been ordered to leave us behind in case we'd been compromised."

"Compromised. A lovely way to put it." Osiris sneered. "I assume you mean, implanted?"

"Something like that," muttered Lou.

"I fail to believe that the most honourable Colonel Jack O'Neill would leave you here. Even if he had been ordered to do so. That man is one of the most stubborn people I have ever had the misfortune to stumble across." Osiris grumbled. "And Doctor Jackson also…my host has memories of his unending loyalty and devotion to both his friends and his work. I fail to believe that either of these two individuals would leave you to your fates without trying some daring rescue mission."

At the mention of her fiancé Jack, and her dead friend Daniel, tears involuntarily sprang into Sam's eyes. Osiris noticed this immediately and chuckled loudly. "Ah, your weakness astounds me even now. The mere mention of your friends makes you cry. Do you believe they will not succeed in rescuing you…or do you think they will not even try? Is it as I suspect, that the reason for the loss of SG-1 is that you can no longer function together as a team? Can you no longer trust one another? Are you spread across your teams to keep you away from each other? Has your Colonel O'Neill turned his back on his team? Is that the real reason you are now on SG-2?"

Osiris asked each question faster and louder and watched in amusement as Sam's military façade crumbled.

"NO!" Sam cried out. Tears rolled freely down her face now but she remained standing defiantly in front of the System Lord. "SG-1 died when Daniel did. How could you not know that. You, oh so powerful God, you? How could you not know that Daniel was dead?"

"How can this be? The Lord Ba'al would have informed me if he had destroyed one of the premier team of the Tau'ri. I am also certain that if another of the System Lords had succeeded in killing Daniel Jackson that they would have been more than forthcoming with the information. There is a bounty on the heads of SG-1 but Apophis single-handedly caused the price on Daniel Jackson's head to rise way…way above all others. That price did not go down with the apparent demise of Apophis. So any System Lord who captured or killed Daniel Jackson would certainly have announced the fact to anyone he or she may have come across. In fact I wouldn't be at all surprised if his body was not on display for all to see. It would be the ultimate trophy - and such a pretty one too…"

"You sanctimonious b#stard. It was nothing like that." Sam was barely holding herself together now, and had given up all pretence at control over her emotions. "His death was an accident. An accident, God damn it. There was an earthquake and the pyramid that he was inside at the time collapsed, with him inside it. My only hope is that he was killed instantly and that he wasn't buried alive to die alone under hundreds of tonnes of rock, hoping and praying for rescue that would never come. So, no…it wasn't anything to do with the Goa'uld and no, he's not someone's trophy somewhere - thank God. Wherever his soul ended up, I truly hope he finally found the peace and tranquillity that he deserves. God knows his life was traumatic enough."

Osiris was also fighting for control by now. It was rare that Sarah Gardner managed to regain any sort of control over her body but hearing Sam's account of Daniel's demise had created such a flare of emotions in the young woman's psyche that for a few moments the symbiote that was Osiris was overwhelmed. A single tear tracked down the porcelain features of Sarah's face and a gentle hand reached out to wipe away Sam's tears.

Quite taken aback by the radical change in the System Lord, Sam looked deep into tear-filled brown eyes and suddenly realised that she was, for once, looking into the eyes of the host - Sarah Gardner - and not those of the Goa'uld Osiris.

Sarah struggled to speak, "Te…Tell me it's not true," she managed to gasp.

"I'm sorry, I can't." Sam said gently. "Daniel died, nearly eleven months ago."

"Oh…" Sarah's chin crumpled as her emotions ran free. Several more tears escaped from her sorrowful eyes and she stepped back away from Sam. "I…I…argh…"

Sarah's hands clutched at her hair and she gasped in pain. "I'm sorry," she managed to say before she let out an awful shriek and with horror Sam and Lou realised that Osiris had finally regained control over Sarah's body and inflicted a great deal of pain on the young woman in the process.

"Jaffa," the Goa'uld screeched, clearly furious at losing control of his host. "Take these two away and lock them in our guest quarters," he said, waving at Sam and Lou.

"Yes, My Lord," replied the nearest Jaffa. Him and three of his fellow warriors moved in to flank Sam and Ferretti.

"Him…" Osiris then said, pointing at Davies. "Send him to the surface. I have a message for Colonel O'Neill and the Shol'va Teal'c." Ensuring Mickey was listening the Goa'uld continued; "Tell them that they have eight of you Earth hours to present themselves to me or your precious Samantha Carter here will become the first trophy in my new collection."

"Yes, My Lord," replied the Jaffa whom Davies was huddled in front of. He reached down and pulled the young man up by his jacket and deposited him on shaky legs.

"And what of the other one, My Lord?" the final Jaffa asked, pointing at the motionless body of Jimmy Sands.

"Let him take the body back with him." Osiris answered, pointing at Mickey Davies. "If nothing else it will prove that I mean business. Oh, and let him carry his friend. I shall need several hours rest and it shall be your job to ensure I am not disturbed."

"As you wish, My Lord," the Jaffa answered immediately.

With that Osiris turned and flounced through the door at the side of the room and disappeared from view.

"You, move." One of the Jaffa behind Sam said, and jabbed her with the closed end of the Zat which he had just unclipped from his arm.

Sam grunted as the Zat impacted with her ribs. "I'm moving."

Lou glared at the Jaffa to his left but started moving before the Jaffa had a chance to retaliate.

As the pair reached the door Sam turned round and gave a last sorrowful glance towards Mickey Davies. The young man was being 'encouraged' to pick up the body of Jimmy Sands and get moving out of the room. As Sam passed through the doorway she saw Mickey carefully lift the body onto his shoulders and start to move. He had tears streaming down his face but with both hands occupied by supporting the corpse he had no way of wiping them away. The young man could barely hold himself upright, let alone hold the weight of his friend but he valiantly struggled towards the door. He met Sam's gaze just before she disappeared from view and this bolstered him, he stood up slightly taller and fixed a determined look on his face as he carried his comrade on his final journey.


	42. Chapter 42

Sticks and Stones - Chapter 42 - by Emma Nisbet (grnfield)

Sam and Lou were ushered down one corridor after another in a dizzying fashion. Ultimately they guessed they were heading for the cells in the base of the ship but the bizarre route that the Jaffa were taking to get there left them reeling. Lou caught Sam's eye and she knew he had noticed the odd route their escorts were taking but whether this was intended to disorient the team-mates or for some other purpose neither of them could guess.

As they walked the rumbling noise of the Ha'tak vessel began to change in pitch. From within the low grumbling growl a whining noise became evident. Sam realised the ship was being lowered into the atmosphere, presumably in preparation for depositing Davies and Sands back onto the planet to deliver Osiris's message. She risked another glance at Lou who nodded once to tell her he'd also heard the noise and that he too understood its meaning.

#

Both Sam and Lou were stunned when they were eventually halted half way down a long narrow corridor with solid looking doors set at regular intervals along both walls. The leading Jaffa placed a crystal into a small control panel in the wall and the nearest door swung silently open.

Once the door was fully open, the Jaffa with the crystal barked an order of "inside" and the Jaffa behind both Sam and Lou stepped forwards, clearly expecting the two humans to step into the room to get away from them. They didn't, as both team-mates automatically resisted entering the unknown space. The large warriors prodded them with the ever present Zats to force them to enter the room.

Lou stepped warily into the room until he was forced to step quickly forwards to catch Sam as she stumbled past him. Apparently the Jaffa behind her hadn't taken her slight build into account and had been overzealous when he 'encouraged' her into the room. Lou grabbed her around the waist as she fell and neither noticed the door closing behind them until it met the doorframe with a resounding 'thump.'

They spun round and Lou ran at the door, hitting it with his shoulder in an attempt to dislodge it before it finally locked. Unfortunately he hadn't reacted quickly enough and the door was firmly closed before he slammed into it. He hit the door and let out an audible 'oomph' before standing up and kicking it several times with all the force he could muster. Once he'd vented the worst of his anger on the resolutely unforgiving door he turned back to Sam, gasping for breath as he did so.

Sam, in the mean time, had moved out into the middle of the room to survey the area they had been left in. It turned out to be a large bare room with plain graphite coloured walls. The ceiling above them shone with an iridescent golden glow, bathing the room with a soft yellow light and on opposite walls to one another sat two sturdy looking bunks. At the far end of the wall to where they had entered sat another door, this one ajar, covering the entrance to a darkened room.

As Lou approached her Sam turned her head to him, raised her eyebrows and asked, "That make you feel better?"

He had the grace to look sheepish and replied, "Er…no…not really…and my foot hurts now."

Sam rolled her eyes at him and Lou had a feeling he heard her mutter 'tsk…men' under her breath as she turned her head away again.

Pointing at the door he asked, "What's through there?"

"Haven't…haven't got that far yet," Sam replied, shaking her head from side to side as if to clear her mind.

Lou noticed the movement immediately, "Sam. You OK?"

"Just a little dizzy, that's all. You want to check out the door?"

"Sure, I can do that," Lou replied, giving Sam's arm a gentle squeeze as he moved past her. He walked forwards and slowly pushed the door further open. Cautiously he stuck his head through the doorway and momentarily had to close his eyes as the ceiling illuminated above him.

When he opened his eyes it only took a couple of seconds to look over the room and soon Lou was backing out again. Turning away from the door he pulled up short as he found himself nose to nose with his second in command.

"Well?" Sam enquired.

"Bathroom," snorted Lou. "If you can call it that. My closet at home's bigger than the room back there. Where the hell are we anyway? Not that I'm complaining mind, this ain't exactly the Ritz but it's a damn site better than a lot of the places we find ourselves locked up."

"I'm thinking something along the lines of servant's quarters." Sam replied. "Either that, or there's so few Jaffa here that these would usually be the quarters that housed them instead."

Lou nodded, "Yeah, but what I don't get is why they didn't take us to the cells. Why put us in here? I mean, there's a blanket on each bunk and we've even got a toilet and that's far better than the usual Goa'uld hospitality."

"I have an idea why we're up here and not 'down there'," Sam replied, pointing downwards. "If we're here -wherever we are - then we're not in the most obvious place where a rescue party would look for us."

"See what you mean. That'd be the first place anyone'd look," agreed Lou. "Why'd they put us here together though?"

"No idea," said Sam, shrugging. "I'm not complaining about that one though. The thought of being locked in a cell alone while this seemingly random group of Jaffa roam the ship is certainly not an appealing one. Is it me or does Osiris not seem to have total control over them? The fact that we could lock them in their quarters and no-one even noticed - I mean what's that all about? And what happened to Ba'al? Didn't Dad say that he and Osiris were travelling together?"

Lou's forehead scrunched as he thought this over. "I don't know. There's been no sign of him at all. Just a few random Jaffa with his mark, not really any more than were marked with anyone else's symbol though."

"No. I…I don't think he's here you know. I really don't think he's got anything to do with the mining on the planet or…or the base construction either. It's just…just not his style somehow. Ba'al…he seems to be above that sort of thing. Everything he does is organised to perfection and I can't see that we'd've managed to just wander into the camp unawares if Ba'al was truly in charge, let alone actually get onboard the ship and remain undetected for as long as we did. No…no…no, I think this is Osiris through and through. May…maybe he thinks he can set up a base of operations here and gradually build himself enough of an army to do some damage to the p…power base of the Goa'uld System Lords. If Ba'al…uh…if…if Ba'al knows that he's here though then I can't see it ha…happening anyway. Ba'al just wouldn't allow him to gain…gain too much power and be…be…beccome a r…risk to his do…do…domain."

A frown formed on Lou's features as he noticed Sam's speech was being broken by more and more pauses. "Maybe Ba'al's letting Osiris do all the leg work and set everything up then intends to take the base for himself once it's up and running?" he suggested. "Sam, you sure you're alright?"

"I…I…Maybe. Um…that...that does sound much more like some…something he'd d…do." Sam faltered over her words and opened her eyes wide as if trying to keep herself awake. Suddenly her eyes closed and she swayed on her feet. Lou reached out to grab her arm before she could fall to the floor. Carefully he moved her to one of the bunks, rested her back against the wall and squatted on the floor in front of her with a concerned look on his face.

Gently he took hold of her chin and lifted her face until it was level with his. "Sam, look at me," he urged. "Sam, please. Open your eyes and look at me."

Struggling against heavy eyelids Sam barely managed to do as she was told but the dual slits of blue that became visible was enough to tell Lou that Sam was still functioning on some level. "Atta girl, that's it. You with me now? What brought that on?"

Sam opened her mouth to reply and the movement caused a trickle of blood to run down Lou's arm.

"Damn it," Lou shouted. He gently tipped Sam's head back so he could see under her chin and realised that the blood was coming from the wound that Osiris had inflicted with the fingertip of his hand device. It had obviously been dribbling down her front ever since without anyone realising it.

Rifling through his pockets, Lou quickly pulled out a handkerchief and held it firmly over the wound to stop the flow. Looking at the blood trailing down her neck Lou realised he needed to know just how much blood Sam had lost. "Sorry about this, Sammy," he whispered as he pulled aside her tak vest so he could see the front of her T-shirt. He hissed through his teeth as he noted the slick dark streak that ran between the mounds of her breasts and disappeared down into the front of her pants.

"Christ," he muttered. Closing Sam's vest again he moved his gaze back up to her eyes. "You still with me here?" he asked quietly.

Sam just blinked in reply, too drained now to even contemplate trying to speak.

"Good girl," Lou said as he moved his free hand to her neck to take her pulse. "Strong as ever but fast," he told her. "Only to be expected eh?"

Sam blinked in reply, eyes dropping now as she fought to remain conscious.

Brushing his hand over her forehead, Lou frowned at the slight warmth he felt there. Fishing in the pockets of his vest he pulled out his first aid kit and also his emergency water flask. Still holding the handkerchief under Sam's chin he carefully unscrewed the top of the flask with his other hand and held it to her lips. "You gotta have a drink, Sam. You've lost a lot of blood and you need the fluids."

Gradually he tipped the flask until the water flowed slowly into Sam's mouth. When she motioned that she'd had her fill he stoppered the flask and put it to one side then opened up the first aid kit. He set several adhesive butterfly stitches to one side and unwrapped a couple of sterile wipes before lifting Sam's face gently so he could once again look directly into her heavy lidded eyes.

"Sammie," he said gently. "I'm gonna fix you up now, OK? This will probably sting a bit but I've gotta clean the cut before I can put the Steristrips on there."

Sam blinked slowly and her forehead wrinkled in the start of a frown.

Lou smirked, "Yeah, I know. Guess I need to work on my bedside manner. I can't help it, I'm just not old Doc Fraiser!"

Sam let a small chuff escape from her mouth in response to Lou's joking and then closed her eyes and allowed Lou to patch her up.


	43. Chapter 43

Sticks and Stones - Chapter 43 - by Emma Nisbet (grnfield)

Mickey Davies watched apprehensively as Sam and Lou were led towards the doorway. The Jaffa standing beside him motioned toward Lieutenant Sands and, crouching down, Mickey arranged the limbs of the body in such a way as to make it easier to lift. Sands had been a bulkier man than the more slightly built Mickey Davies but the young man was determined to take his friend home with as much dignity as possible. As carefully as he could he lifted the body of his fallen comrade onto his shoulders, and swayed for a moment as he became used to his new centre of gravity. He was aware of the tears streaming down his face but wasn't prepared to release his tight hold on Jimmy Sands to do anything about them.

Standing up straighter Mickey caught Sam's gaze. If it hadn't been for Sam's plea to Osiris then Mickey was certain he would have met a similar fate to that of the man currently lying across his shoulders. He shuddered at this thought and made a silent vow that he'd return with a rescue party as soon as he possibly could.

He risked a glance at his guardian, a massive warrior bearing the mark of Imhotep, and was taken aback when the warrior's eyes met his own. The Jaffa held the gaze for a moment and Mickey was certain he saw a look of pity in the eyes of the large warrior. When the moment passed the Jaffa gave him a nod and a gentle shove in the direction of the door. Mickey slowly started moving across the room, just as Lou and Sam disappeared from view.

#

Struggling with the weight across his shoulders, Mickey's progress down the corridors was slow. His single Jaffa guard gave the impression that he was in no hurry to escort the young man to the ring transporter and seemed content to let Mickey set the pace.

Mickey himself would have preferred to travel at a faster speed than that which he found possible though. He wanted off the ship in as swift a time as he could possibly manage. Every moment that he was aboard the vessel was another moment that Sam or Lou were at risk of being tortured, maimed or even killed.

#

As they progressed further down the deserted corridors, Mickey noticed that the Jaffa began to look more than a little disturbed. Every time they came across an intersection the warrior would take furtive glances down each of the connecting passageways. Mickey was unsure as to whether his guard was worried about the lack of life on the ship or relieved about the very same thing. It worried Mickey that maybe the warrior was simply going to dispose of both himself and Jimmy Sands instead of sending them back to the planet as he had been ordered. It would simply take three blasts from the Zat that the warrior carried on his arm and his job would be done.

Steeling himself for a possible sudden death situation, Mickey continued to mechanically place one foot in front of another as he paced slowly down the corridor. Only one spark of hope now remained within him - the memory of the look of pity that the Jaffa had given him right before they left the pel'tak of the ship.

#

As it became obvious that they were approaching the ring transporter area the Jaffa stopped Mickey with a gentle hand on his arm. Mickey instinctively flinched away from the touch and the Jaffa had to grip him hard to stop both Mickey and Jimmy crashing to the floor.

Taking another careful look around, the Jaffa stepped in front of Mickey and whispered urgently to him. "Please, do not be afraid. My name is Dal'nar, and I will not harm you but I must ask for information from you."

"Oh, erm…you don't intend to kill me?" Mickey asked cautiously.

"Never, do not concern yourself, you are safe in my presence," Dal'nar stated quietly. "Please, I need to know - is it true that you travel with Teal'c of Chulak? The Shol'va, as he is known to the Gods."

"Teal'c of Chulak?" Mickey questioned, clearly confused by the Jaffa's sudden willingness to talk. "Er, Teal'c…Teal'c's on SG-2. He's part of the same team as Major Carter and Colonel Ferretti. Wh…why?"

"He is on the same team?" queries Dal'nar. "But then why is he not here with his brothers in arms? And what of his symbiote? Is it also true that he no longer carries the larval form of our Gods?"

Crinkling his forehead Mickey tried to work out if Dal'nar was genuine or was simply fishing for information that he could feed back to Osiris. Dal'nar could see the wrinkle of doubt forming on the young man's face and gripped him firmly but gently by both arms before bringing his eyes level with the young man's. "You must tell me. Teal'c of Chulak may be our hope for freedom. For many years I served the great Lord Imhotep. Many moons ago he enlisted the help of Teal'c of Chulak but something went wrong and Teal'c returned to challenge our God in the ritual of jomo'sequ. When the bout was ended this Teal'c of Chulak was victorious and our God was dead. If this Jaffa was capable of killing Imhotep then clearly our God was not in truth the powerful leader of warriors that he was supposed to be, and this started a great deal of discussions about the true power of the Gods."

"Once Imhotep was gone many of our people returned to their homes and families but Lord Ba'al soon learned about his demise and had his Jaffa search us out. We were driven out of our homes and herded like cattle onto many great ships. Once we were separated from our loved ones our main aim in life became to escape from Ba'al's regime even though we did not know whether it would ever be safe to return to our homes again. Many of us perished during several failed escape attempts and the remainder were eventually 'presented'…" Dal'nar spat out the word with great distaste. "…to Lord Osiris along with a great number of other Jaffa from many different Gods who have been overthrown by Lord Ba'al. Lord Osiris is a bad leader with a foul temper and many of my brothers have perished under the fire in his hand."

"As more Jaffa have been deposited within our ranks we have heard many rumours of the great deeds being done by Teal'c of Chulak and his Tau'ri comrades. It is even said that Teal'c and the Tau'ri were responsible for the destruction of Lord's Apophis and Sokar. The prison moon of Netu had been destroyed once and for all?"

Bolstered by the fact that this Jaffa so-far hadn't hurt or killed him, Mickey decided to trust the him and answered as best he could. "Teal'c's on the planet below. He's protecting the Chamakan people and will hopefully be able to lead them to safety. As…as far as I know…yes…SG-1 killed Sokar, and they blew up Netu. A…Apophis…well we've thought him dead before so I really don't know."

"Teal'c of Chulak is here. That is admirable news. You must go now and take your brother home. If you can, get Teal'c of Chulak and the one they call O'Neill and bring them here. While you are gone I will rally my brothers and inform them that the Tau'ri are coming. You may still encounter some resistance on your return as I cannot risk speaking to the Jaffa of Ba'al or Osiris himself, however the resistance will be much reduced than had I not spoken to my kin. Your friends will have been taken to the Jaffa quarters near the uppermost point of the ship, I will not be able to release them but I will ensure they are supplied with sufficient fluids and nourishment while they are there. Lord An is also in the quarters there but this will not affect any rescue mission that your people may wish to carry out."

Davies absorbed the information as best he could, and repeated it back to Dal'nar as he was told it. "Top of the ship, OK. Got it. Who is Lord An? Is he another Goa'uld? Why is he not a threat?"

Dal'nar let out a frustrated growl. "It is true, you Tau'ri are a most questioning race. Lord An is the child who was chosen to be the next host for the Lord Ba'al. He was apparently given to Ba'al by one of Nirrti's handmaidens in payment for safe passage off the deserted planet where she had been posted. As per her training she had created the child and started his training but ended up with no use for him once she discovered that Nirrti had perished. Ba'al was delighted with his new 'pet' for a short while until it was discovered that he was defective. Ba'al flew into a rage when news of the defect became known and ordered him disposed of. Several of the female Jaffa who had been in charge of his care smuggled him onto the ship when they discovered that it would be leaving the area but unfortunately no females were included among the Jaffa presented to Osiris. It has therefore been left to the sympathetic ones among us to ensure he has been nourished but this has proved extremely problematic as the child seems to be terrified of any of us who attempt to approach him. Sending him down to the planet would have meant certain death due to his defect but I am afraid that he may in fact have little time left before he perishes nonetheless. I hope it may be possible that your people could take him, as you may have more success in supplying him with the care he needs."

With that, Dal'nar straightened to full height and ensured Mickey was standing steadily before letting go of his arms. Slipping into the correct position behind his prisoner Dal'nar escorted him the last few turns until the circular pattern of the ring came into view.

Positioning the young man safely in the centre of the rings the Jaffa gave him a firm pat on the arm before stepping back towards the control panel.

Mickey nodded to confirm he was ready and clung tighter to the body on his shoulders. Taking a deep breath he closed his eyes tightly against the incoming rush of light that the rings would produce as they dropped around him. With a whoosh of noise and a rush of air the rings dropped taking Mickey and Jimmy almost instantaneously down to the planets surface.

#

The two Marines guarding the gate weren't really expecting any activity before the sun rose. Teal'c and the Chamakan population had travelled through the gate a couple of hours previously and the sun was now only barely starting over the horizon.

Both men looked upwards as they heard the crackle of the Ha'tak vessel re-entering the atmosphere and realised something was clearly about to happen. They immediately assumed they were about to be struck down by the Ha'tak's weapons and dived for cover in the trees radioing their sleeping comrades to warn them as they ran.

When the Ha'tak came no nearer and fired no ammunition into the clearing the four men crept closer to the edge of the trees where they ensured they had a clear view of the gate. After a fraught couple of minutes the distinctive sound of a ring transporter rang across the quiet landscape. Moments later five huge rings dropped from the sky, just in front of the gate, and the figures of two olive-clad men came into view. One was supporting the other across his shoulders but as the rings travelled back towards the ship the standing man's knees gave way and both men fell to the ground with an audible thud.

After a stunned couple of seconds the four Marines sprung into action. Moving as one they hurtled out of the trees and towards the jumbled pair of people in the centre of the clearing. Sliding to a halt in front of the two men, the commander of the Marines, James Benson, an older generation soldier in his last rotation before retirement, could see that one of the men was dead and by the awful pallor of his skin it was clear he had been dead for some time. Carefully Benson rolled the body of Jimmy Sands off of the now sobbing Mickey Davies and, realising who the young airman was, and seeing the distress he was in, the father of four, leaned the young man into his chest and offered him the only comfort he could at that moment. Between sobs Benson managed to establish that both Major Carter and Colonel Ferretti had been captured and were being held prisoner in the Jaffa quarters. The message then got a little garbled as Mickey's distress grew but the message that Colonel O'Neill and Teal'c were requested got through loud and clear.

The lower ranking Marines, seeing that their commanding officer was otherwise engaged, moved the body away a little distance and carefully laid it on the ground. They then moved off into the wood and located a couple of sturdy branches and began to fashion a litter with which to carry the body home in a presentable manner.

Removing their jackets they threaded the branches through the arms and created the makeshift stretcher. Gently they lifted the body of Lieutenant Sands and placed him onto it, respectfully covering him from head-to-toe with a space blanket and then stood and patiently waited for their commander.

Benson gently encouraged Mickey to compose himself and gave the young man's neck a gentle squeeze as he scrubbed his face dry. The old Marine then stood up, stepped forwards and examined the litter and ordered his second-in-command to dial them home.


	44. Chapter 44

Sticks and Stones - Chapter 44 - by Emma Nisbet (grnfield)

To say that Jack O'Neill was annoyed would have been an understatement - of epic proportions. That morning he had been dragged from his bed to receive a transmission from the SGC requesting that he prepare the Alpha site for incoming refugees. He was then ordered that under no circumstances was he to dial the gate to Earth during the course of the day. He was told it was highly likely that the people from the planet designated P4M-776 were going to be evacuated at some point in the very near future and that the SGC could not cope with the sheer number of refugees. Those deemed to be in least need of medical attention would be sent to the Alpha site until the situation on their planet was resolved and they could return home.

Only once Walter had closed the wormhole down, did Jack recognise the planet designation. P4M-776, he realised, was Chamaka, and that was the last place he'd heard that Sam was headed.

Suspecting that the order to not dial the gate was a deliberate attempt to keep him in the dark Jack was tempted to go against orders and haul himself back to the SGC to demand some answers. He paced the dusty ground between the gate and the DHD for some time but eventually stormed back into the drab, grey, concrete bunker that held the entrance to the underground facility. He went into his office, closed the heavy wooden door and forced himself to remain there, unwilling to risk the wrath of General Hammond - who had always been very good to him.

#

After fuming in his office for the best part of half an hour Jack spent the rest of the morning storming around the alpha site yelling at people and making preparations for the incoming Chamakan refugees. With no way of contacting Earth to find out what was happening, and without knowing if Sam was safe, he threw his energy into doing what he did best - preparing for the worst.

Although he had been assured that he would only be receiving the least injured people from Chamaka, Jack knew this meant he would still have walking wounded under the care of his people before the day was out. A large canvas triage tent was set up near to the gate, stocked with all the usual emergency medical equipment and all available medically trained staff at the Alpha site were readied for action.

#

Once the Alpha site was prepared nothing happened for several hours. Jack looked at his watch and when he calculated that it would still be dark on the Chamakan homeworld he growled with frustration. He had always been a man of action and sitting around waiting for the gate to gush into life had never been his idea of fun. The fact that he had so little information to work with didn't improve his mood so by the time the inner ring on the gate finally began to rotate a very audible sigh of relief was heard from the other SGC members under his command.

#

Jack sprang to his feet and strode over to the DHD as the gate's ring rumbled around.

The final chevron locked and the gate whooshed into life. A grubby and harassed looking Colonel Reynolds stepped though first, followed by Sergeants Nicholson and Bell along with several Marines.

"Colonel O'Neill," Reynolds addressed Jack as he approached the older man. "Permission to bring one hundred and sixteen people through the gate, Sir."

"Permission granted, Colonel." Jack replied.

Reynolds turned back towards the gate and spoke quickly into his radio informing the SGC that the Alpha site was ready for visitors. He then turned back to face Jack.

"Been kinda kept in the dark here, Reynolds," Jack told him. "We've not heard anything for hours. Would ya like to fill me in? What's been going on?"

"Sorry, Colonel. I'm not sure what you've been told," Reynolds admitted.

"Not a great deal," Jack griped. "All I know is that at some ungodly hour this morning we were woken up to be told that you were probably going to be evacuating an entire planet and were ordered to prepare for refugees. Since then we've been sat on our collective asses waiting for something…anything to happen. P4M-776, I'm right in thinking that's where Carter is, aren't I? Is she OK? What about T? And Ferretti? Come to think of it, where the hell is the other half of your team and what're you doing with Bell?" Jack was clearly getting riled now, each question being barked at Reynolds at a higher volume and a faster tempo.

Reynolds winced, admitting to not knowing the whereabouts of SG-2 wasn't going to go down well anywhere within the SGC but with Jack in full-on wrath mode it could get positively explosive. Reynolds was all too aware of the relationship between Jack and Sam and the protectiveness that the elder man held for both his fiancé and his Jaffa ex-team-mate.

"Peterson got hit with a staff blast not long after we got there. He's in the infirmary, it's messy but he'll survive." Reynolds winced. "Bell's with me, Davies is with Ferretti. Bell's bigger and we needed the bulkier of us to impersonate the Jaffa that were holding the Chamakans prisoner. It was Teal'c's idea and it worked as well…we got most of 'em out alive. Unfortunately there were several who didn't survive the journey, even though they were transported in carts but the majority of them made it in one piece. I'm not sure on numbers but I'd've said you'd got about half of 'em"

"Buuut?" Jack said quietly, painfully dragging out the word.

"Err…yeah…" stuttered Reynolds. "The but…we don't exactly know where Ferretti and co are at the moment. They went up onto the Ha'tak to scope out the level of hostiles aboard and to place C4 for remote detonation at the same time. They were due back before dark but we never heard from them. The Jaffa went aboard and the Ha'tak went into orbit, anything past that I don't know. We decided to move the Chamakans out under the cover of darkness and it took most of the night to get them back to the SGC and sorted out ready to come here. It's chaos in the infirmary, hence why you're gonna have people with only temporary casts on broken bones and a hell of a lot of people suffering from malnutrition and exhaustion."

Reynolds was all too aware that Jack had moved forwards until the two men were standing face to face. Luckily for him the first batch of Chamakan people started stumbling through the gate at that point and Jack was forced to leave Reynolds so he could organise the newcomers.

#

The arrangements for the Chamakan refugees went off without a hitch. Jack had the Alpha site organised to such a high degree that even an increase in numbers of over 130 people (the Chamkans plus a variety of SGC personnel) didn't cause any problems.

Those injured among them were taken straight to the triage tent while the more able-bodied people were ferried a short distance through the woods to a man made clearing where five huge tents had been erected as temporary accommodation.

Once in the tents the people were fed and watered and given access to washing facilities. Fresh, clean clothing was supplied but proper bathing would have to wait until later when everyone was settled in.

#

Reynolds hoped that Teal'c would have followed the Chamakan people through the gate so that he could field the numerous questions that Jack was bound to have once he'd finished with the refugees. The Colonel was disappointed when the big Jaffa didn't appear but his worry for his personal safety lessened slightly when he saw Jack dial the gate and get involved in a very heated discussion with the MALP that was permanently parked beside the gate.

He guessed that Jack had General Hammond on the other end of the wormhole and he could see the Colonel gesticulating wildly but was far enough away to not be able to hear anything except for occasional snatches of Jack's raised voice.

Eventually Jack threw up both hands in disgust and stomped away from the MALP, creating small plumes of dust with every angrily placed step. A couple of seconds later the wormhole blinked out of existence as Jack slammed the door of the bunker behind him.

For a couple of seconds a stunned silence reverberated throughout the site before Reynolds was forced to take charge and ordered 'you nosy lot' back to work.


	45. Chapter 45

Sticks and Stones - Chapter 45 - by Emma Nisbet (grnfield)

It had been less than half an hour since Jack had argued with Hammond and subsequently stormed off into the base. No-one had seen him since but as Jack's temper was legendary throughout the SGC most people were relieved about the fact. They continued to work on patching up and settling the Chamakan population but most of them kept shooting wary glances towards the resolutely closed door of the base.

Most of the staff within earshot of the gate looked up suddenly when the gate gushed into life once more. The fact that Earth was making contact again so soon after the last transmission couldn't possibly be good news.

Reynolds, as the most senior officer on the Alpha site, under Jack of course, strolled up to the MALP and waited as the event horizon settled into its usual form of glowing blue water.

The camera on the MALP spun round and stopped as the SGC focussed on Reynolds face. The speaker sprang to life and the tinny voice of General Hammond was heard around the clearing. "Colonel Reynolds, where is Colonel O'Neill?"

Reynolds answered him hesitantly, "Er, Sir. Colonel O'Neill is currently inside the base."

"Well send someone to go and get him," Hammond replied impatiently.

Reynolds looked around for volunteers but found that everyone was mysteriously extremely engrossed with whatever they were doing and were definitely not looking in his direction. "With all due respect, Sir. Colonel O'Neill was a little…er…upset when he finished speaking to you earlier." Reynolds was trying to put his words together carefully so as not to drop Jack into trouble.

"I am aware of that, Colonel." The annoyance in General Hammond's voice was clearly heard through the speaker. "I'd rather not order you to get him but I will do if I have to. I'm not asking you to walk into a room full of angry Jaffa, for Christ's sake, I'm just asking you to go and retrieve one man from inside his own base. Now please, go and retrieve the Colonel. I need to speak to him, this is urgent and cannot wait."

Reynolds looked around again and immediately noticed that everyone had moved further away from him. No-one wanted to volunteer to get themselves pounded into oblivion for disturbing an irate Jack O'Neill.

"Sir, you didn't see him when he went inside. I don't think there's a man here brave enough to go and get him at the moment. I'm not sure any of us could take on the Colonel when he's in a full-blow snit. I think someone'd almost certainly get hurt, and it's doubtful that someone would be Colonel O'Neill."

"Oh for heavens sake," the General spluttered. Sounds of a muted conversation came through the speakers, the General had obviously covered the microphone with his hand while he was talking to someone else in the control room.

"Colonel Reynolds," Walter's voice came through the MALP this time. "Please prepare for incoming travellers."

'Sh!t,' thought Reynolds. 'Sorry Colonel, but you're a frightening man when you're in a good mood. In a bad mood - whoa, I don't even want to think about it.'

Stepping away from the MALP he stood at parade rest and waited for the travellers to emerge from the glowing face of the event horizon.

It was no surprise to anyone that the first person through the gate was Teal'c. He was one of the people most likely to be able to control Jack and had he been there before then Reynolds would have sent him in to retrieve the Colonel for General Hammond.

The large warrior inclined his head in acknowledgement of Colonel Reynolds' greeting then strode gracefully towards the base - and ultimately Jack O'Neill.

More surprisingly though, following Teal'c came General Hammond himself, the face of the usually mellow General bearing a heavy frown as he too acknowledged Reynolds before following Teal'c towards the bunker.

The large Jaffa didn't hesitate at the door, he simply pulled it open and strode through, closely followed by the General who closed the door firmly behind himself.

Seeing the two men disappear inside, and assuming they may be some time, Reynolds took it on himself to oversee the running of the site. He strolled over to the tented area and spent some time answering what questions he could from the many that the Chamakan people asked him.

#

Reynolds was alerted via radio that the base door was opening and rushed back to the DHD to meet the General when he got there.

Teal'c and General Hammond left the base simultaneously, accompanied by an obviously even-more-fuming Jack O'Neill. Looking at the flushed red of Jack's face Reynolds wondered how the man had survived his own temper tantrums in the past without having a coronary. He hated to think of how high the Colonel's blood pressure must be and somehow doubted that Janet Fraiser would be happy about clearing him for gate travel should she read it any time soon.

Looking at the set of Jack's expression though, Reynolds doubted that even the SGC's Little Napoleon would be able to stop him at the moment.

'Oh Christ, what's happened now?' he thought with a heavy feeling in his gut. The only thing he knew at the moment was that it was obviously something bad - something VERY bad, judging by the fact that it had got General Hammond off-world. It was obviously something that had riled Jack even more than he already was so that only really left one possibility - something had happened to Sam. Bear in mind she was on the Ha'tak with her team-mates, whatever it was had probably also happened to Lou Ferretti, Jimmy Sands and Reynolds' own youngest team-mate, Mickey Davies.


	46. Chapter 46

Sticks and Stones - Chapter 46 - by Emma Nisbet (grnfield)

Teal'c and General Hammond stopped near Reynolds at the DHD and quietly waited for Jack. The Colonel approached the three men and stopped, looking around for someone or something in obvious frustration.

"General, Colonel, Teal'c," Reynolds greeted them.

"Reynolds," Jack acknowledged him with a bob of his head, eyes still scanning the area.

"Colonel O'Neill, can I help you with something?" Reynolds asked.

Jack finally stopped scanning the clearing and his eyes met those of Reynolds. "Er…yeah, Saunders?" he asked.

"Saunders, Sir?" Reynolds queried.

"Major Geoffrey Saunders, Reynolds. My second in command," Jack replied. "Where the hell is Saunders?"

"Sorry, yes, I know who he is, Colonel. I just don't…oh, hold on a moment." Reynolds grabbed his radio, "Sierra Golf Three calling Major Saunders, please respond."

The radio crackled into life, "Saunders receiving. What can I do for you Colonel Reynolds."

Colonel Reynolds automatically went to reply but was beaten to it by Jack who flicked the button on his radio before Reynolds had a chance. "Saunders, this is Colonel O'Neill. What is your present location?"

"Colonel O'Neill. Sir, I'm currently at the Chamakan encampment arranging a rota for use of the bathing pools," the reply came back.

"You got Major Staines with you?" Jack asked.

There was a pause, before Staines voice was heard. "Colonel O'Neill, this is Staines. I'm near to Major Saunders location, do you need me to go and meet with him?"

"No, Staines. I need you to go and replace him. Saunders, I need you back at the base ASAP. I'm going on a little trip and I need you to take care of things while I'm gone."

Reynolds forehead crinkled into a frown as he heard this. "Sirs, what's happened? Is it SG-2?"

"Be patient, Son." Hammond said kindly. "We'll fill you in when Major Saunders arrives, there's no point going through everything twice."

"Very well, General," Reynolds replied. 'This is bad, it can't be anything but bad.'

~#~

A few minutes later Major Saunders skidded to a halt beside the DHD. Seeing General Hammond standing by the device he immediately snapped to attention and gave a sharp salute. The General acknowledged him and told him to be at ease, so the Major immediately turned his attentions to Jack.

"Major," Jack said. "You got everything sorted here?"

"Yes, Sir," came the reply. "Many of the men at the camp simply need rest and sufficient food and fluids. Physically they should be fine within a week or so. Mentally though…"

"I know, Major. I know." Jack stopped him. "Major, circumstances have changed - drastically - since the refugees came through from P4M-776. A situation has developed and both Teal'c and myself have been requested to render assistance. This is a time sensitive situation so I need to leave pretty much straight away."

"Sir," Reynolds started. "SG-2?"

General Hammond took it upon himself to relieve Jack of the burden of explanation. "Colonel Reynolds, Major Saunders. As you are aware most of SG-2 were last heard of aboard the Ha'tak vessel of the System Lords Ba'al and Osiris. A short time ago the Marines guarding the gate on P4M-776 were approached by the ship and a set of rings dropped two of our men in front of the Stargate pedestal. One of the men - Lieutenant Jimmy Sands of SG-2 - was dead and the other - Sergeant Mickey Davies of SG-3 - was in a state of severe shock. He was lucid for a short while and managed to tell the Marines that the ship is under the control of Osiris, that Major Carter and Colonel Ferretti are being held in the Jaffa quarters and that many of the Jaffa who supposedly serve Osiris are in fact doing so under duress. Before he left the Ha'tak, Sergeant Davies was in contact with one of the dead Goa'uld Imhotep's Jaffa. This man, named Dal'nar, knew of Teal'c's reputation and assured the Sergeant that the SGC will encounter very little resistance from the Jaffa on the ship when we next board the vessel."

"Sir, apart from the…er…obvious, why is Colonel O'Neill going?" Major Saunders asked. "He…er…you requested him?"

"Hey, you know me," Jack announced. "I'm the 'go to' guy. Kill the snake, get the girl and we all live happily ever after."

Hammond looked at Jack, rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Son, as ever it's not really as simple as that," he explained. "The presence of both Colonel O'Neill and Teal'c was requested by Osiris himself. The 'request' stated that Colonel O'Neill must be present on the Ha'tak vessel by 1330 hrs today or the lives of Colonel Ferretti and Major Carter will be forfeit. Sergeant Davies is now heavily sedated in the infirmary. Apart from shock he seems healthy enough but Lieutenant Sands was clearly tortured before Osiris broke his neck. The Lieutenant was apparently sent back to let us know that Osiris meant what he said - so that we'd send in Colonel O'Neill and Teal'c with no questions asked. Unfortunately for Osiris, he doesn't seem to have any idea that his Jaffa are not truly faithful to him. Teal'c believes Dal'nar to be telling the truth although anyone travelling onto the ship will be more than adequately armed in case he turns out to be lying. Colonel O'Neill and Teal'c will be accompanied by SG teams five and fifteen, and - with your permission, Colonel Reynolds - yourself and Sergeant Nicholson. Sergeant Bell from SG-2 has requested that he also accompany you and I have granted his request. Now time is of the essence and we must get back to Earth as soon as possible. Colonel O'Neill, do you have anything you need to do before we go?"

"No, Sir. I'm all set," Jack replied. "Saunders, look after the place. I want to find it still in one piece when I get back."

Saunders nodded, unwilling to voice his worry about the potential danger of what the others were about to walk into. He knew Jack would never willingly show weakness or any doubt that he would indeed return from the mission. With Sam Carter's life in the balance it was probable that Jack would give up his own life for the chance to save her. Letting out a shudder, and glancing to check no-one noticed, Saunders replied "Will do, Sir. Don't worry about this place. You just put your energies into getting everyone back to Earth safely."

There wasn't much you could get past the Black Ops trained Colonel O'Neill, but somehow Saunders didn't mind being caught out. He realised that Jack had noticed the shudder when he pulled him aside and quietly spoke to him. "You're a good man, Major. Let the others know what's going on as and when you see fit. Don't you worry, I'll do all I can to get everyone home again…and I fully intend that to mean everyone."

Saunders didn't know how to reply to that one but it didn't seem that Jack was expecting a reply any way so he just nodded and remained silent.

The silver haired Colonel turned, presented himself to General Hammond.

"I'm ready, Sir," he told the General. Turning to Teal'c, he linked arms with the large warrior and said, "Come Toto, it's time to fly. Let's just tap our heels together and say 'there's no place like home'. One quick stop and then we're off to rescue Dorothy."

Teal'c looked over Jack's head and locked confused eyes with Hammond. The bald headed Texan held his gaze for a moment, then turned to Saunders and ordered the gate to be dialled back to Earth.

The gate burst into life before settling back down and creating the gateway to Earth. Teal'c, General Hammond and Colonel Reynolds stepped forwards and disappeared into the event horizon. Jack took a last look back at Major Saunders who gave a smart salute as the Colonel stepped away from his home on the Alpha Site.

For all his bravado Jack was worried and his last thought before his molecules were disassembled by the gate was a melancholy one - the thought that this maybe the last time any of his men saw him alive.


	47. Chapter 47

Sticks and Stones - Chapter 47 - by Emma Nisbet (grnfield)

As he exited the wormhole, Jack looked around at the gathered people in amazement. Before Hammond had left for the Alpha site he had clearly given orders for the appropriate people to gather in the gate room ready for dispatch upon his return.

As he stepped from the base of the ramp Jack found a fully loaded tak vest thrust in his direction. He automatically shrugged the vest on and turned to the Armoury clerk who was waiting with Jack's standard weaponry. The Colonel held out his hand for his trusty P-90 only to find a small computer terminal forced into his grasp. With a grunt of annoyance, Jack grabbed the stylus and signed his name before handing the terminal back to the clerk. The clerk checked the terminal, nodded and handed Jack the gun. Jack took the P-90 and immediately clipped it carefully to his vest. He was then handed another weapon, a gun that looked like a miniature Berretta but was silver in colour instead of black. With the gun came a clear plastic case through which Jack could see the orange feathered ends that he recognised as tranquiliser darts.

Taking the gun and darts from the clerk Jack carefully placed them inside one of the pockets of his BDU pants before looking at Hammond, who was by now standing half way up the gate ramp, for an explanation.

"All in good time, Colonel. All in good time," came the reply to his unasked question.

Straightening his attire Jack moved until he was side by side with Hammond and stood to attention. The portly General looked approvingly at him and turned to address the room.

"Firstly I'd like to say thank you to everyone for gathering here as I requested. It looks like you are ready to move out as soon as I give the go ahead. As you all know, Major Samantha Carter and Colonel Louis Ferretti are currently being held aboard the Ha'tak vessel above the planet designated P4M-776. This vessel is apparently under the control of the Goa'uld System Lord, Osiris and we do not know of the status of our men at present. When Sergeant Davies left the ship he was informed that they are being held in the Jaffa quarters, not the holding cells, and he was under the impression that the pair of them were in no immediate danger." Hammond paused, waiting for an outburst from Jack, and was both surprised and worried when the other man remained silent.

"Sergeant Davies was assured, by a Jaffa named Dal'nar, that the Jaffa warriors onboard the vessel are not loyal to Osiris and that the troops are serving against their will. Teal'c and SG-3 have verified that the squadrons on the surface of Chamaka were made up of Jaffa allied to numerous different System Lords, many of whom we know to be dead."

Jack raised his eyebrows at this but again refrained from adding a comment.

"This may obviously add credibility to the claim that these warriors are being made to serve Osiris under duress but obviously the information could also be a ruse so that we go in unprepared. As you've seen, along with your standard issue weaponry many of you have been issued with modified tranquiliser dart guns, these are purely for use on the Goa'uld, and are not to be used on the Jaffa warriors. Doctor Fraiser and her team have been working to develop a tranquiliser that will be effective in temporarily disabling a Goa'uld symbiote whilst still inside the host. Some of you who have been here for some time will know that the late Doctor Jackson succeeded in injecting Osiris with a prototype of this drug and that it showed a marked effect. The formula is still not one hundred percent effective but has shown a great deal of promise and should greatly slow down the reactions of both Goa'uld and host once introduced into the bloodstream. The tranquiliser guns you have been given have been modified in such a way as to propel the dart at a lower-than-normal velocity which has been proven to penetrate a Goa'uld's personal shield. The downside of this is that whoever is doing the shooting will have to be closer to the enemy than would normally be advisable; however the drug should work pretty quickly once it is injected. Also it should not matter if multiple darts hit home, even a massive dose of the drug will only render the host unconscious."

Hammond's eyes scanned the room and he saw the dedicated officers absorbing every word as he spoke it. The Texan General felt a sudden rush of pride towards his people. "One other thing we know, is that despite previous intel, the System Lord Ba'al is not onboard the ship. Osiris appears to be working alone apart from the Jaffa. It is not known if other prisoners are being held on the vessel although if any are located then they will be granted refugee status along with the Chamakan population."

Hammond paused in a natural break to his speech. He momentarily turned to Jack and noticed that the other man was starting to get twitchy. He had been astounded that the Colonel had allowed him to speak to the teams for as long as he had without interrupting him once. 'If only all the briefings could be like that', he mused briefly. Truthfully though, George knew that Jack's silence was merely a façade and that the silver haired Colonel was like a tightly coiled spring inside. How much longer the spring remained hidden was something that the General was more than a little worried about and he turned back to address the room once more.

"Due to the fact that the gate on P4M-776 is currently unguarded, we will be sending a replacement MALP probe through in the next couple of minutes. If all is well, SG-5 and SG-15 will accompany Colonels O'Neill and Reynolds to the planet along with Teal'c and Sergeants Bell and Nicholson. Once you are there you will report to Colonel O'Neill for the remainder of the mission. Once the gate is secure I would like the MALP returned to the SGC and I will send through several of Sergeant Siler's team to attempt a repair on the original probe so we can recover that one too."

Hammond looked up at Walter Harriman who was watching from the control room window. "Dial the gate, Sergeant," he ordered.

With the usual whoosh of steam the inner ring of the gate began to spin and Walter began to announce the chevrons as they engaged. Jack and Hammond stepped aside to allow Siler to direct the MALP into position. A final shout came from Walter that the seventh chevron was now locked and, with a whoosh of sound and iridescent blue light the wormhole sprang forwards into the room.

Once the vortex had settled back to its calm, shimmering blue state, Sergeant Siler sent the MALP trundling up the ramp, into the event horizon and far, far across the galaxy.

~#~

Quietly and efficiently Siler walked into the control room, closely followed by General Hammond. The technicians parted as the two men approached the computer terminal in front of the window overlooking the gate room. With more than a little trepidation, everyone in the control room fell silent as they watched the screens for signs of life. The MALP materialised on the other side of the gate and immediately began transmitting.

An audible sigh of relief was heard when the probe was not immediately destroyed by hostile forces. In fact, on Chamaka all was surprisingly quiet. The camera on the probe started scanning from the far left of the clearing. First it picked up the broken remains of the original MALP and then carried on tracking to the right. A large grey object was seen a little way from the gate but it wasn't immediately obvious what the object was. Other than that one anomaly, the clearing was empty of any objects that shouldn't have been there.

Once it became clear that there were no aggressive forces present, Siler was ordered to move the MALP forwards towards the mystery object. The machine trundled across the open space, stopped in front of the object and Siler directed the camera to pan downwards onto it. A sudden gasp was heard throughout the control room as the camera focussed in on the gruesome image of a Jaffa warrior. The side of his forehead was resting on the dirt of the clearing floor and he had blank staring eyes looking sightlessly back towards them. The once-proud warrior bore the insignia of the Goa'uld System Lord Osiris, and had, by the appalling look of horror on his face, died a very sudden and exceptionally painful death.


	48. Chapter 48

Sticks and Stones - Chapter 48 - by Emma Nisbet (grnfield)

The General frowned at the grisly image on the screen and after a moment he leant forwards and pressed the comms button. "Colonel O'Neill, could you please join me in the control room a moment. Majors Griff and Pierce would you please follow him."

Worried now, Jack quickly jogged up the cold metal stairs that lead from the gate room to the control room, his feet making loud clanging sounds as he hurried to follow his commanding officer's request. He was aware that he was being followed by not only Griff and Pierce but Colonel Reynolds as well. 'That man certainly knew how to get around', Jack thought quietly. 'You would have thought after the few day's he's had that he'd be needing a nice warm bed rather than…well…this.'

As the men rounded the corner and stepped through the door, Jack caught a glimpse of the MALP transmission and grimaced. "Just what we want," he commented, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"I don't like the look of this one bit, Colonel," the General told him with a worried look on his face. "This whole rescue mission has screamed 'trap' from the get go. Quite frankly the fact that the first image we receive upon revisiting P4M-776 is that of a mutilated Jaffa warrior does not inspire confidence."

"Me neither," admitted Jack. "But still, we have to try, Sir."

"Of course we do, Colonel," the General assured him. "Of course we do."

"I have a theory, Sir." Jack said after thinking for a moment.

George raised his eyebrows at the other man. "I thought you might come up with something," he replied. "Let's hear it then, Colonel."

Jack straightened his posture before answering. "I think he's a message, Sir. At least I'm hoping so anyway."

"A message?" the General queried.

"Yes, Sir. I'm hoping the fact that he was one of Osiris's Jaffa is telling us that this Dal'nar person was telling the truth - that the Jaffa onboard the ship are really on our side…well at least not on Osiris's side anyway."

Hammond pursed his lips and thought for a moment, "I see your point, Colonel. How would you like to proceed with this?"

Jack paused and looked once again at the screen. Turning to the Sergeant standing to his right he asked, "Siler, can we get a look at his arms with that thing?"

"Should be able to," Siler replied. "Just give me a moment, Sir and I'll see what I can do."

The technician stepped slightly away from Jack and moved until he was directly in front of the screen. With careful movements on the hand held MALP control he instructed the large machine to back away from the fallen warrior. As the camera panned downwards once again it became evident that the Jaffa had both his forearms tucked underneath his body and that neither were visible.

"Sergeant," Jack made his request with just one word, knowing full-well that Sergeant Siler would know what he was asking.

"Yes, Sir." Siler replied. "I'm on it."

Once again Siler delicately adjusted the controls in his hand. As the people in the control room watched they saw the grabbing arm come slowly downwards from the top of the MALP. Gradually it dropped towards the nearest shoulder of the unfortunate Jaffa until it was in the required position. With an audible whir, the jaws of the mechanical pincers opened and Siler lowered the arm a small amount more. Once there was a large bunch of the Jaffa's clothing inside the jaws Siler depressed the button to clamp them shut.

Siler looked up at Jack for permission to proceed. The Colonel said nothing but nodded his head slightly to give the Sergeant the go-ahead he required.

The Sergeant turned back to the screen and warily manoeuvred the joy-stick that controlled the reach of the arm on the MALP. He gently moved the stick forwards and as he did so the MALP rolled the Jaffa onto his back and then released it's grip on the dead man's clothes. As he rolled both the Jaffa's arms came into view and both Siler and Hammond heard Jack mutter a quiet 'thank Christ for that' under his breath.

Hammond turned to his second-in-command. "I assume by that, that you saw what you wanted to see then, Colonel?"

Jack looked sheepishly around the room, wondering just how loudly he'd uttered his thankful little prayer. Noting that, other than Hammond, no one else met his eye he realised it couldn't have been that loud after all.

The silver haired Colonel cleared his throat before speaking. "Er, yes, Sir. I certainly did."

"I'm pretty sure I know what that thing was," General Hammond said. "…but for the benefit of the others present here, would you like to divulge your findings, Colonel."

"Certainly, Sir." Jack replied. "Griff, Pierce…Reynolds," he turned and addressed the men who had been standing behind him in the cramped control room. "This Jaffa is our ticket onto that ship. After seeing what we've seen here just now I'm also more optimistic that the Jaffa, Dal'nar, was telling the truth. He's not only sent us the key to get onboard but a message that Osiris's Jaffa are in the process of being removed from duty."

"Colonel O'Neill," Major Pierce piped up. "Don't you think that's a rather risky leap of faith to be taking? Yes that poor fellow was one of Osiris's Jaffa but it's a bit of a jump from there to him being our ticket onto the ship…isn't it?"

Hammond looked at Jack, wondering just how his second-in-command was going to react to being questioned. In the 'good old days' he could more-or-less predict Jack's reactions without even consciously thinking about it…more recently however…

Jack looked at the Major and raised a finger towards the other man. "Aah, Pierce. I can see how you would think that. However there's one crucial piece of information on that screen that you have clearly not taken onboard as yet. Would you like to take another look?"

"Certainly, Sir." Pierce replied before stepping nearer to the screen. He looked at the image for a few moments but became all too aware of Jack impatiently waiting for his reply.

Pierce turned so he was once again facing Jack. "I'm sorry, Sir. I don't know what you want me to tell you," he admitted quietly.

"I'll give you a clue, Major," Jack said. "Left arm…"

Pierce took yet another look at the gruesome image on the screen. A furrow appeared on his forehead as slightly panicked thoughts ran through his mind.

"Oh," he exclaimed suddenly. "Transporter controls."

"Transporter controls," Jack repeated. "Our…entrance ticket, if you will."

"Excellent," Griff mumbled quietly from his spot by the door.

"Indeed," came a rumbling reply from just outside the door.

No one had noticed that Teal'c had quietly followed Reynolds when he had trailed after Griff and Pierce just a few minutes before. The large man had remained in the corridor outside the control room, due to fact 1: that he hadn't been invited inside, and fact 2: there was already an uncomfortable number of people in the room. The extra bulk of the massive Jaffa would have made the already cramped room just about unbearable.

Teal'c stepped forwards slightly so he was fully visible to the people in the room. "GeneralHammond, I apologise. I was concerned when you called O'Neill to join yourself. I only wished to offer my services if required but I see now that the situation is under control."

"That's quite alright, Teal'c. I understand," the General said graciously. "I would like to hear your opinion on this matter."

"I concur with O'Neill." Teal'c replied immediately, the warrior had obviously given this a great deal of thought before revealing himself to the room. "However, if the warrior Dal'nar is untrustworthy then he - or possibly one of his brothers - has unwittingly given us a way to board the Ha'tak vessel of Osiris. A great deal of caution will have to be engaged until we can ascertain the nature of the situation onboard the ship. I would recommend leaving a contingent of soldiers to safeguard the security of the Stargate until such time as we can determine on which side the Jaffa are fighting."

Hammond was left reeling slightly from this surprisingly long speech from the usually reticent Jaffa.

"In other words, be careful and trust no one." Jack said.

"Indeed, O'Neill." Teal'c inclined his head towards his former team-mate. "It is refreshing to know that we are still 'on the same wavelength' after all this time."

"Absolutely, Big Guy. Absolutely," agreed Jack. He turned to Hammond, "We good to go, General?"

"As you wish, Colonel. Get everyone back down there and we'll redial the gate. I'd rather send you all on your way on a fresh wormhole. That one's about out of it's thirty eight minutes."

Jack turned towards the door and made sweeping motions with his arms in an attempt to get everyone moving downstairs in front of him. Once they were all moving Jack turned one last time to Hammond and waited to be dismissed himself.

"Stay safe, Jack," the older man requested. "And bring 'em back."

"I'll do my best, Sir." Jack replied.

"That's all I can ask for, Colonel," the General told him. "We'll all be waiting for news. Dismissed."

"Thank you, Sir." Jack said and he turned and walked through the door and down the stairs to wait for the new wormhole to be formed.

~#~

The connection to the current wormhole was cut and very shortly afterwards the gate began to spin as Chamaka was once again dialled. As Walter Harriman announced each lock of the giant rotating wheel the tension level in the room elevated. Each and every person currently standing in the gate room and also those in the control room above them was wondering just what was going to be discovered once the rescue team got to their distant destination.

Walter gave his usual triumphant cry of "Chevron seven locked" and the vortex of the wormhole whooshed forwards into the room. Just a few seconds later it had formed into it's usual shiny flat surface and was ready to accept it's latest batch of travellers.

Jack, who was standing at the base of the ramp, turned and faced the control room window.

Hammond nodded his head to acknowledge him and depressed the button to the comms system. "Rescue Team, you have a go. Good luck and God Speed."

Jack issued Hammond with a quick salute before spinning around to face the gate. He pulled his ball-cap from a pocket in his BDUs and firmly pulled the headgear down to cover his silver hair. He shrugged his pack once to ensure it was definitely comfortable, and then lead the men up the gate and into the event horizon without looking back.


	49. Chapter 49

Sticks and Stones - Chapter 49 - by Emma Nisbet (grnfield)

The once quiet clearing on the planet of Chamaka was suddenly a hive of activity. Jack immediately set two teams to scour the trees that circled the clearing to ensure they weren't walking into an ambush unprepared.

Teal'c had the unenviable task of removing the ring-transporter controls from the arm of the dead Jaffa in the centre of the area. He did this with as much respect as he could and disturbed the body as little as possible. The Goa'uld had attempted to make the Jaffa believe it was glorious that their fallen comrades had forfeit their life for the good of their Gods and that they would therefore carry an exalted position in the afterlife. Their families, so said the Goa'uld, should be proud and not saddened by the loss of their family members. Teal'c and many of the other Jaffa knew this to be absurd. Most of the Jaffa were, in many ways, just like the Tau'ri of the First World in that they greatly valued the lives of their brothers-in-arms. They realised that every fallen warrior was originally someone's son, father, husband or brother and that those left behind would mourn their passing greatly - in private, and well away from the prying eyes and ears of their 'Gods'.

Once it was established that there was no threat waiting to attack them from the trees Jack strode over to the DHD and dialled the gate back to Earth. He apprised General Hammond that the clearing appeared safe and directed the intact MALP probe back trough the gate for Siler and his 'boys' to check over and prepare for the next time it was needed. The original MALP was in a pretty poor condition. Having taken a direct hit from a staff weapon, the top of the large machine was blackened and charred. Jack gave it an experimental kick but unsurprisingly the MALP gave no response.

"I think it's dead," he announced quietly, looking at Teal'c who had wondered over to him with the Jaffa's armband.

"Indeed it would seem that way," the large man agreed. "However I believe that the assistance of your footwear will not be beneficial to the apparatus. I have seen SergeantSiler perform seemingly miraculous repairs on the equipment located inside Stargate Command and I believe there is every chance this machine will rise from the ashes like a sacred firebird."

"That'd be a phoenix, Teal'c." Jack said with a chuckle. "But yeah, if anyone can fix this mangled bucket 'o bolts it'll be Siler. I'd wager that by the time ol' Sly's through with it it'll be better, faster and more powerful than the one we've sent back home already."

"I concur," Teal'c said. "Will the mechanics be joining us shortly?"

"They'll be on their way soon enough," Jack replied. "They're gonna get the other one but to bed first and then they'll be here. We'll be long gone by then though - up, up and away and all that." Jack spun his finger round in a circle and then pointed upwards in the general direction of the Ha'tak vessel.

Teal'c's brow furrowed as he tried to place the slogan. Failing completely he gave up and focussed on the job in hand. "I have retrieved the controls for the ring-transporter as requested." Teal'c held out his hand to pass the armband to Jack. The Colonel looked blankly down at the dull metallic object for a moment until he suddenly came back to himself and took it from Teal'c's large hand.

With a grimace he clipped it around his own left arm, and pulled the sleeve of his jacket down so it was no longer visible. "I'm just gonna pretend I don't know where it's been," he told his long-time friend. "As far as I'm aware it's brand new and you've just collected it from Tiffany's for me."

Teal'c raised his eyebrows at this but remained quiet. Jack looked him in the eye and saw a glint of amusement there. Jack wondered where it had come from until he replayed the last conversation in his head.

Teal'c knew the moment that Jack realised what had amused the warrior. The Colonel suddenly flushed a dark shade of puce and coughed in embarrassment.

"Ah, anyway. That's quite enough of that," he spluttered.

Moving away from the MALP, he clambered up to stand in front of the now silent gate. He noted silently that the body of the Jaffa had been moved from it's position in the centre of the clearing and had been carefully placed near to the tree-line. Someone had had the foresight to cover the corpse with a blanket in an attempt to give the dead man the dignity that he had been so badly lacking since his death. He realised it was inevitable that the SGC would recover the body in the interests of scientific exploration but chose to omit that fact from his thinking for the time being. He had more important things to think about in the immediate future.

Jack put a finger and thumb in his mouth and whistled loudly to attract everyone's attention. "SG-15, I need you to stay and guard the gate. There's no obvious threat here at present but I want the door kept open and I don't want any nasty surprises when it comes to going home. The rest of us are going up there," he pointed to the sky, "…in two teams. Griff, I hate to do this to you but I'm gonna need to split your team up. Reynolds, Nicholson, Bell and Teal'c aren't as fresh as the rest of us and I'd want to keep the groups roughly even."

Griff nodded. "OK with me, boss," he agreed. "What's the plan of action?"

"Two teams," Jack began. "One to track down and attempt to subdue Osiris with the darts, preferably without damage to the body of Sarah Gardner. If this new and improved drug is any good then we should be able to deliver the pair of 'em to the Tok'ra for snake removal. Team two are hostage retrieval. We know that Colonels Carter and Ferretti are being held in the Jaffa quarters near the top of the ship but what we don't know is just how much resistance we're going to encounter between here and there. The Jaffa are still the unknown quantity in this equation and we're all going to have to go in with our eyes very much open."

"Understood, Colonel," Griff replied. "Who do you want where?"

"Major, you take Templeton, Peters, Nicholson and Teal'c. Summerville, Reynolds and Bell'll be with me."

"Do we need to ask who's doing what?" Templeton asked tentatively.

Jack paused for a moment as if trying to pick his words carefully. "No, Major, you do not. Much as I'd like to kick that snaky b#stard from here to kingdom come, I'm obviously leading hostage retrieval. And, from here on in I'd like it known that it's with General Hammonds full approval that I'm doing so as well. Got it?"

Templeton held his hands in front of himself in supplication to the older man. "OK, OK, I got it. It was an honest question, I didn't mean anything by it - I didn't mean no offence and I'm sorry."

Removing his cap and scrubbing his fingers through his short hair, Jack took a mental step back to review the whole conversation. Did these people not realise how difficult this situation was for him? The tension in the last couple of minutes was exactly the reason the military took such a tough stance on the anti-frat regs. Having two of his comrades held hostage and in an unknown condition was a nightmare enough for any commanding officer. If one of those people happened to be the most important person in the world to that commanding officer it just compounded the situation into one that was intolerable.

Jack knew that truthfully he really shouldn't be leading this rescue mission but he also realised that Hammond knew there would have been no way he could have kept Jack away once the Colonel knew that Sam was in danger. Hammond would have known that if he had attempted to ban Jack from joining the rescue then the younger man would have simply made his own way there through his gate on the Alpha site - pension and court martial be damned. If Sam never made it back from Chamaka then there would have been no doubt in Hammond's mind that Jack wouldn't return either. The bald-headed Texan knew Jack too well and knew how close he'd come to ending it all after his son had died. That time the grieving man had been dragged back from the brink by the young archaeologist, Daniel Jackson. Jack realised that the General also knew that Sam had been the one to keep Jack from sinking beneath the waves when the same Doctor Jackson had himself passed away. Jack realised that George knew if Sam were to cease to be then Jack would almost certainly sink without trace and that somehow, in his own way, the older man had resigned himself to that fact.


	50. Chapter 50

Sticks and Stones - Chapter 50 - by Emma Nisbet (grnfield)

Due to there being no visible ring platform in the clearing Jack allowed Teal'c to guide everyone to stand in the correct position and the nine men gathered close together in a back to back formation. Once Teal'c gave the signal that they were all positioned correctly Jack depressed the crystal on the armband still hidden beneath his left sleeve.

There was a rush of light and air, followed by a metallic thumping sound as the rings fell around the men.

Almost instantaneously the rings reappeared inside the Ha'tak vessel and deposited eight humans and one Jaffa safely on the metal floor.

Immediately the comrades dispersed from their tight huddle and dived behind the many boxes and crates stacked up around the room, each one almost expecting either to be instantly struck down by staff weapons fire or to feel the electrical charge of a Zat hit them.

After a few brief moments of silence the various members of the SGC realised there was no obviously hostile force in the room with them. No alarms sounded and no footfalls were heard in the nearby corridors. One by one, nine heads emerged from behind hiding places and the members of the rescue teams looked at one another in bemusement.

"What, no welcoming committee?" Griff asked quietly. "Ain't that a bit strange?"

"Better no welcoming committee than a heavily armed and dangerous one," Jack replied. "Don't knock it; we'll take it as a good thing for the moment. T, what do you make of this?"

"I am as puzzled as you, O'Neill," the large Jaffa replied, looking as unpuzzled as ever. "As you say perhaps we should take this as a good sign for the time being, however extreme vigilance would be prudent when traversing further into the depths of the ship."

"You think it's a trap. Right?" Jack asked cautiously.

"I believe that to be a distinct possibility, O'Neill," his large friend answered. "I would be most pleased to find my fears to be unnecessary. Until that time, however, I shall be utilising extreme caution and I implore everyone here to do the same."

"Point made, Teal'c," Jack nodded. "Got that everyone? Eyes peeled."

"Got it." "Sure thing." "Right oh." A variety of muted replies filtered back to Jack.

~#~

Jack took a careful look down the corridor leading away from the room where they were hiding before looking at his watch and turning back to once again address the men.

"Get into your teams, people. We can't stay here. We've got barely eighty minutes before our 1330 deadline. Who knows what the hell happens after that. I don't intend to be here to find out. In, job done, out. All agreed?"

"Agreed." Teal'c answered for everyone in the room.

After a fair amount of shuffling the teams were organised and their call signs agreed upon. Jack allocated SR-1 to Griff's team, the Major had a larger team than Jack and by far the worst of the two tasks to complete. Jack's team was to be SR-2. Radio contact would be kept to an absolute minimum but all team-members wore headsets for the inevitable time when communication became absolutely necessary.

Jack's team set off first, having furthest to travel to their destination. Teal'c had briefed Jack on the most efficient way of reaching the Jaffa quarters and had also given a detailed description of places to avoid and places to hide along the way.

SR-1 were ordered to give SR-2 an eight minute lead time before setting off towards their own target.

~#~

Jack's team spotted the first non-SGC person not long after Griff's team had set out from the ring-room.

As they cautiously rounded the fifteenth corner in the maze of corridors through which they were walking they came face to face with a huge Jaffa warrior wearing the mark of the Goa'uld System Lord Zipacna. Both the team and the warrior stopped dead where they stood, each side sizing the other up and waiting for the other to make the first move.

Just as Jack was beginning to wonder how to break the stalemate without creating a potentially disastrous amount of noise, the Jaffa slipped backwards through an open doorway and silently closed the door behind himself.

Jack and the others watched him go with matching looks of stupefaction on their faces. Once the door was firmly closed they looked at one another in amazement.

"Oookay, that was weird," Jack muttered just loud enough for the others to hear.

Reynolds let out a barely audible chuckle, "You can say that again, Colonel."

"Just what the hell was that?" Bell put in.

"No idea," replied Jack. "But one thing's for certain - they know we're here, they're not fighting and, well, I kinda got the idea he wasn't all that surprised to see us either."

"I got that too," Reynolds agreed. "What's with the Jaffa just letting us past without a single word of argument though? I know Teal'c's reticent about speaking but in confrontational circumstances you often can't stop him. That…what we've just seen…well that just wasn't normal Jaffa behaviour. It was just…odd."

"Whoa, big words there Reynolds, my friend." Jack said, jokingly. "But I'd have to agree with you - odd that most certainly was. If they're all on the same wavelength as ol' Zippy's guy though we're in for one hell of an easier time than we might have been otherwise. Anyway boys and…er…boys, shall we continue on to rescue Dorothy while Toto deals with the Wizard?"

This drew smiles from the other three men. This was Jack, back at his sarcastic best, and the three men realised how much they had missed the sardonic wit within the walls of the SGC since Jack had left for the Alpha site. Despite Jack still being second-on-command of the SGC, Hammond had refrained from calling the Colonel back to Earth more often than was absolutely necessary. Most of the time he'd managed to catch up with Jack when he'd come back for his relatively-regular visits with Sam. Hammond had realised that Jack needed to rediscover the stability in his life that he'd had for the last seven years and had left the Colonel alone as much as possible so he could find a certain level of permanence in his everyday life.

SG-1 had been the Colonel's earthing-rod since Charlie had died. That earth had been brutally ripped from Jack's person when Daniel had died and for a time the Colonel had been lost, afloat on a sea of despair due to the fact that he no longer had a clear purpose in his life.

Since Jack had been at the Alpha site he'd made himself a new life, a new team…a new family if you will. That tied with the fact that Sam had now become his link to life-on-Earth had enabled the Colonel to come back into being in his greatly-altered role.


	51. Chapter 51

Sticks and Stones - Chapter 51 - by Emma Nisbet (grnfield)

With Jack leading the way again the four men made good time travelling gradually upwards towards the uppermost part of the ship. As they travelled the vivid golden colouring on the walls was gradually replaced by a depressing gunmetal grey and the ornate hieroglyphs made way for riveted metal panelling. Further on the floors also changed - from an almost luminous, buffed marble effect they became a type of dark grey, almost black stone that bore a striking similarity to slate. Apparently the Goa'uld spared no expense when it came to areas they would be occupying but spent absolutely no money, time, or effort on the decoration or glorification of the areas used for their minions.

Any Jaffa resistance they encountered simply melted away as they approached their destination. Many Jaffa were spotted in the corridors but by the time the four men should have reached then they had always slipped into side doors or drifted away down other corridors. Not one of them met the eyes of any of the men and not a single word was uttered. As much as Jack and his men appreciated the fact they weren't being challenged, it gave the whole situation a somewhat surreal feeling.

The four Tau'ri team-mates were stunned by the number of different tattoos present onboard the ship. Many of the Jaffa were branded with the symbol of System Lords that Jack and the other members of the SGC knew to be dead but others seemed to have been randomly collected from around the galaxy whether their 'God' was still alive or not. 'No wonder they're on our side,' the Colonel thought to himself. 'It would start a massive war among the System Lords if they found out that Ba'al and Osiris were pilfering their Jaffa as and when they felt like it. Maybe that's the idea - to weaken the enemy from within. By both reducing the workforce and getting the enemy to fight amongst themselves Ba'al would effectively leave his enemies open to attack and, if left long enough, turn them into an ideal target for complete and total domination.'

~#~

As they rounded what Teal'c had advised as the last corner before the Jaffa quarters they met the first real resistance since ringing onto the ship. A squad of four Jaffa were guarding a crossroads in the drab, grey passageways, each warrior was armed with a staff weapon and all had Zat's clipped to their right arms.

Immediately Jack's eyes fell upon their foreheads and he saw that two were warriors allied to Ba'al, one to Osiris and one - slightly further down the corridors than the others - bore the mark of Lord Yu.

In the brief moment before the Osiris and Ba'al Jaffas reacted Yu's warrior, a slim Asian man with dark, almond shaped eyes, met Jack's gaze. With a barely noticeable movement he tipped his staff weapon downwards in an attempt to advise Jack both that he was in the right place and inform the Tau'ri Colonel that he would not be engaging in this battle.

Jack blinked slowly to let the ally Jaffa know the message was understood. Whether the other members of SR-2 had noticed the slight distance between Yu's man and the other warriors was something Jack couldn't be certain of but he hoped his men would have enough foresight by now to ask questions first rather than going in with all guns blazing.

Jack's moment of contemplation came to an abrupt end when the three nearest Jaffa primed their staff weapons and swung them forwards towards the four invading humans. The men reacted instantly, Jack and Reynolds both hit the nearest of Ba'al's warriors with a Zat blast, killing the man instantly. The second was hit with a Zat from Bell and the third, Osiris's warrior, fell due to a single bullet which hit him directly between the eyes.

Reynolds and Bell covered the one unconscious Jaffa while Jack moved towards Yu's man who was standing with his back against the wall and had his staff weapon pointed towards the floor in a gesture of submission.

As he stepped over the body of Osiris's Jaffa, Jack looked back over his shoulder at Sergeant Summerville.

"Nice shot," he said, clearly impressed with the other man.

Summerville looked up in surprise. The Sergeant hadn't worked directly with Jack before and had heard the older man was somewhat difficult to please. That Jack was willing to praise him directly filled the young man with a great deal of pride. "Er…thank you, Sir," he stuttered quickly.

The moment passed as quickly as it had come and Jack turned back to Yu's warrior. "Thank you," he said simply. "I take it you know why we're here?" he asked. "…and I assume we're finally where we need to be?"

The Jaffa nodded vaguely, his eyes darted around the corridor, not stopping on any particular spot for more than a couple of seconds. Looking at the man Jack realised that he couldn't be more than about nineteen years old. Sure, he knew the Jaffa didn't age as fast as 'unmodified' Tau'ri men but this 'warrior' was little more than a boy.

Watching his eyes nervously scanning the corridor, Jack realised that the young man was not only young, he was completely terrified. Looking at the man and noticing how he was avoiding looking at the bodies of the other guards the Colonel wondered if the young man actually served any time out on the battlefield or if Ba'al had raided some sort of Jaffa training camp and snatched him from there.

"Where?" Jack questioned the frightened man with a single word, raising his eyebrows as he spoke.

The young man pointed down the left hand side of the left-hand corridor leading away from the crossroads. He held out his right hand with four fingers outstretched and his thumb tucked in towards his palm. Flexing his fingers twice he met Jack's eyes as if asking for confirmation that the olive clad man had understood.

"Eight?" the Colonel queried, hoping he'd received the message properly. Why did the man not just speak to him and tell him what he wanted to know?

The Jaffa uttered a single guttural word which Jack failed to understand and flexed his fingers down the corridor again.

Suddenly insight hit Jack like a two-by-four. The warrior could not speak English. Being one of Yu's men he would have surely been brought up speaking the Sinitic dialect from whichever Asian populated planet Yu harvested his Jaffa from. The warrior presumably also spoke in Goa'uld but due to his age and obvious inexperience he had presumably had little or no need to be taught English.

Folding both his thumbs to his palms, Jack held up both hands so he had eight fingers towards the Jaffa. "Eight," he said.

The young warrior nodded and then as an afterthought gestured with his whole hand flat out down the line of doors along the right hand corridor. "An," he said earnestly.

Jack looked blankly at him. "An? What the hell is that supposed to mean?" he asked in frustration.

The Jaffa waved his hands in annoyance at the obvious language barrier and put the flat of his hand towards the end of the corridor on the right three more times uttering the word 'An' between each gesture.

"Alright," Jack grated out. "I get the idea. We wanna look down there as well." He nodded his head and waved his hand down the right hand corridor.

The Jaffa relaxed slightly now he'd got his message across and then pushed past Reynolds, Bell and Summerville darted off down the corridor. Bell raised his Zat in alarm but Jack called out to the Sergeant, "It's alright, leave him be. The kid's terrified enough as it is. Let him go, he's no threat."

Bell pointed his Zat back at the Jaffa who was showing signs of waking. "What do you want to do with him, Colonel?"

Jack thought for a moment before stepping to the first door down the right hand corridor. Pressing on the door he was grateful to find it swung open.

"Put him in here," he suggested. "Quick, before he comes round properly."

As Bell and Reynolds hauled the Jaffa into the small room and dumped him unceremoniously onto the cot, Jack took his Zat and disintegrated the bodies of the two dead warriors.

Summerville watched him with a distasteful look on his face.

Jack saw the look. "Yeah, I know," he said quietly. "Bit too obvious leaving 'em in the middle of the passageway though.

Summerville nodded and Jack turned back to the doorway just as Bell and Reynolds were closing the door firmly behind themselves.

"He's still pretty much out of it at the moment," Reynolds announced. "However he's gonna be a mighty bit p!ssed when he finally comes round."

"Yeah," agreed Jack. With the Zat still in his hand, Jack turned his attentions to the door controls. Clearly a crystal was required to lock and unlock the door. Jack looked from the 'lock' to his Zat and back to the lock again. Without another moments thought he discharged the weapon and sent a bolt of energy into the locking mechanism. The blue energy fizzled and crackled for a moment before the lock emitted a loud 'snap' and erupted in a small plume of black smoke.

Jack wafted the smoke away with his hand and noted that the lock was completely melted.

"He ain't getting outta there in a hurry," Reynolds commented from behind him.

"Yep. Well that was kinda the idea," Jack agreed. "Now, let us see what's behind door number eight…"


	52. Chapter 52

~#~ (Chapter 52)

Every member of SR-2 was aware that, with doors on both sides of them, the corridor would make an ideal place for an ambush. Jack cautiously led the way down the passage, closely followed by Summerville and Bell with Reynolds bringing up the rear.

As they travelled away from the crossroads the four men kicked open every door they passed and scanned the room behind it for signs of life. This meant that they effectively zig-zagged down the corridor as they discovered the doors on both sides were not aligned with one another. Each doorway faced a blank wall on the other side of the corridor, and was evenly spaced half way between the doors on the opposite wall. Every single door along the corridor was locked but they all opened with a hefty kick.

They found every room to be identical in every way, either the Jaffa didn't use these rooms much or were not permitted to personalise their living space in any way. The walls were all a uniform, drab grey and the floors were a darker, almost black colour. Every ceiling emitted a golden light and Jack found himself thinking that someone could really do with teaching the Goa'uld about energy efficiency, PIR sensors and 'those little switchy things that tell people when you've opened a door.'

Two bunks holding rough blankets which sat on either side of every room were the only furniture the rescue team saw and they discovered that the doors at the far end of each room led to ludicrously tiny bathrooms.

Everyone was relieved when they successfully reached the eighth door without encountering any hostile forces of any description.

They were all more than a little surprised at the seemingly total capitulation of the Jaffa warriors onboard the ship. Other than the three they had encountered at the crossroads, all the Jaffa they had come across had treated them with indifference and apart from Yu's young warrior, none had attempted to make contact with the 'invading Tau'ri force' in any way, shape or form.

~#~

Stopping outside 'door number eight', Jack took a deep breath and found himself meeting the concerned gaze of Colonel Reynolds. No-one was entirely sure what they were going to find inside the room but Jack had an awful feeling he wouldn't be finding Sam in such a wholesome and healthy state as when he'd left her last.

With a shudder he allowed the Colonel to come to the fore to protect him from whatever they might come across in the next couple of minutes and he straightened himself up in preparation for entering the room.

~#~

With an almighty great kick of his size eleven boots the door gave way. As it swung inwards Jack's eyes fell on the bunk nearest the door. His heart began to fall when he saw it was empty, until he looked across the room to the other bunk…

Lou Ferretti was sitting sideways across the head of the bed, looking at him with a dazed look on his face. His head had been leaning against the wall behind him and as the door flew open he'd leant forwards in an attempt to protect Sam from whatever was coming into their little room. The Major had been lying on the bed, covered with the blankets from both beds and Lou's jacket. Until Jack had burst in she'd had her head cushioned on Lou's legs but now that rescue had finally arrived she was attempting to sit herself up.

She struggled with the blankets but had managed to extricate herself sufficiently to move her arms before finding herself firmly wrapped in Jack O'Neill.

Although Jack knew he was being completely unprofessional he couldn't help himself. He saw Sam; his fiancé, soul-mate and the person he was going to grow old with, lying on the bunk looking pale and sick and he just couldn't help himself. He was across the room in a shot and had Sam bundled into his strong arms before anyone else could so much as blink.

Burying his face in Sam's neck he hugged her tight and inhaled deeply, sorting through the various smells until he found the scent he sought after more than any other. He grimaced at the metallic smell of blood, bypassed the slightly stale sweaty smell from Lou's jacket and eventually found what he was searching for - the unique scent that was Sam. They clung together for a long moment before Jack kissed the soft skin beneath Sam's left ear and raised himself from the bed.

Once he was kneeling upright on the floor in front of the bunk he tenderly stroked Sam's messy hair into some sort of order and gently grasped her chin between his forefinger and thumb. Slowly he raised her head and took a careful look at the bandaged area before following the messy trail of blood down her neck with the back of his finger. Gently he lowered her head back down again and cradled her securely against his body.

Sam had remained silent throughout Jack's examination of her and gladly snuggled against Jack's chest once he had finished. This most un-Samlike behaviour worried Jack more than anything else and he quickly looked over at Lou. The Colonel had remained in his place at the head of the bed while Jack had been checking Sam over and Jack only now realised that Lou's hand was still resting gently on the small of Sam's back.

It was obvious to the older Colonel that Lou had been more-than-worried about the situation he and Sam had found themselves in. The fact that they were locked up was bad enough but the fact that Sam had obviously been injured in some way and that Lou had had to patch her up using only the contents of his vest had made the situation even more unbearable.

Raising an eyebrow at his Italian counterpart Jack silently asked Lou for a sit rep.


	53. Chapter 53

~#~ (Chapter 53)

Quickly but quietly Lou recounted everything he knew, watched the whole time by Sam who studied his every move from her resting place on Jack's chest. Some of the story Jack knew from Hammond's report but other parts, such as the death of Jimmy Sands and the subsequent torture of Mickey Davies were filled in, in greater detail than he previously knew.

Jack started slightly when Lou told him of Osiris's temporary loss of control to Sarah Gardner. Every member of the SGC knew that the host survived the blending with their symbiote but it was virtually unheard of for a Goa'uld to allow the host to surface one he/she had taken control. Unlike the Tok'ra who willingly allowed their hosts to live, love and thrive in a truly symbiotic relationship, the Goa'uld purely used and discarded their hosts whenever they felt it suitable.

The late Doctor Jackson had spoken with Apophis's host for a short while once the Goa'uld within him had died but due to the biological age of the Egyptian Scribe he had succumbed to his injuries soon afterwards. Daniel had also managed to speak a last few words to his wife Sha're as both she and the Goa'uld Queen, Amonet, lay dying on P8X-873. Both these incidents proved that the Goa'uld did no physical damage to the host while repressing them, just that the Goa'uld symbiotes retained a much stronger mental hold over the host than the Tok'ra ones usually did. Jack knew from bitter experience that the Tok'ra were more than capable of taking control over a host body if they so wished it, it was just that most of the Tok'ra would never willingly do such a thing.

Shuddering slightly as some of his repressed memories snuck to the front of his mind, Jack became aware that Sam was grasping at his T-shirt and was trying to push herself up. Carefully he wrapped his hands around both her forearms and lifted her to a sitting position.

"You OK?" he asked, concerned by Sam's continued silence.

Sam bobbed her head in reply. "Sure," she whispered. Looking up at Jack, and leaning heavily on his arm she continued in a quiet voice, "Did…I guess…did…did Davies make it back to the SGC? My God, Jack, they made him carry Jimmy Sands' body all the way from the control room. Did they get back?" As her mind kicked into gear and she started speaking, Sam's words came in a rush and suddenly she sat bolt upright with a wild look in her eyes.

"Sam. Sam, calm down. They made it back," Jack replied softly, stroking up and down her arm with calm, soothing movements. "They made it back," he repeated.

Sam nodded and wearily settled back against his arm.

"Davies was OK…physically at least," Jack told her quietly. "He managed to get over where you were and, kinda, what was going on. Fraiser stuck him on the happy juice as soon as he hit the SGC and I don't think he's been awake since then."

Sam grimaced. "That's probably for the best right now. He barely looked like he was holding it together when we left the pel'tak. Sands must have been at least 30lbs heavier than him and poor Mickey had him slung across his shoulders even though he was shaking so much he could barely stay on his own two feet."

"Yeah, Janet reckons she's gonna be keeping him out of it for a fair while. The guy clearly wasn't ready to deal with what Osiris did in front of him; no-one should have to cope with that in their first few months out. He was in my first training group so I know exactly how long he's been on active duty. For Christ's sake the guy's barely more than a kid."

"Sands was married. He had kids." Tears welled up in Sam's eyes and a lone one rolled down her cheek before she managed to stop it. "Oh, those poor little girls will be growing up without a father."

Jack tenderly wiped the tear-streak away with his thumb. "Hammond's going to be contacting Alice sometime today. He'll make sure they're looked after, Sam. I know it's not the same but it's all we can do - to try and make it easier for those left behind."

Jack leant his forehead against Sam's for a moment, knowing how hard this mission was to everyone in the room. Jimmy Sands was a man under Lou Ferretti's command and friend and team-mate to both Greg Bell and Sam. Mickey Davies was Reynolds's newest recruit and had been one of the youngest serving members of an SG-team. At this point no-one knew whether the young man would even fully recover from his ordeal at the hands of Osiris, let alone whether he would ever work at the SGC again.

~#~

The quiet moment was broken by a quiet rhythmic beeping from deep within one of Jack's pockets. The silver haired Colonel fished out the timer which announced they had reached 'zero hour'. This was the moment that Osiris had designated as the time that Jack and Teal'c should present themselves to him.

As one everyone looked towards the door. From the depths of the ship loud guttural voices were heard, followed by a burst of gunfire that was unmistakably from a P-90.

There was a long pause and then several loud pops were heard. A woman's drawn-out scream reverberated through the corridors and then suddenly everything fell silent.

What the heck was going on?


	54. Chapter 54

Sticks and Stones - Chapter 54 - by Emma Nisbet (grnfield)

Teal'c's team had moved to a small storage area near the ring transporter room and remained there for a good ten minutes after Jack's SR-2 team had left them. Once he was sure that Jack's team were well on their way Teal'c motioned to Griff that they were to move out and slowly led Griff, Templeton, Peters and Nicholson out into the corridor. It had been agreed that they would walk with their weapons ready but held downwards in a non-threatening manner. Should they encounter any resistance they would be ready to defend themselves but everyone was determined to go deeper into the ship not looking like they were there to start a war.

Once they entered the second corridor they soon discovered, like Jack's team before them, that the Jaffa obviously had no intention of fighting with five very determined members of the SGC. Unlike Jack's team though, most of the warriors did not simply shrink away when the rescue team approached them and as they walked it appeared to Griff that a rather odd pattern was forming in the Jaffas behaviour.

They were all armed with their usual staff weapons and had zat's secured to their arms but not once was a weapon raised against Teal'c, Griff and the others. As they rounded each corner and entered each passageway all eyes fell on the team-mates and they found themselves under the intense scrutiny of many massive warriors.

Once the SG-team got near enough for the Jaffa to catch sight of the golden emblem on Teal'c's forehead however, all the warriors immediately pointed their staff weapons towards the ground, dropped their eyes in reverence and stood in silence until the team-mates passed by.

The first few times it happened Griff noticed a slight wrinkling of Teal'c's brow. Small furrows appeared around the outside of his first prime emblem and there was a definite deepening of the lines around the large man's eyes.

After several more corridors of this Teal'c obviously made a silent decision and he rolled his shoulders magnificently before cracking his neck and straightening to full height. The effect was stunning. From being mild mannered Teal'c, friend and comrade to the Tau'ri, he became Teal'c, the fearsome First Prime of Apophis. Teal'c in full-on warrior mode was evidently a force to be reckoned with and if the Jaffa onboard the Ha'tak vessel wanted to bow down to him then he figured it would make things all the easier for everyone concerned if he was to play the part now.

Once they had passed a little further down the passageway the warriors behind them quickly disappeared. Griff vaguely wondered if they were going to cause trouble on the way back but for now he was glad they were simply keeping out of the way. Taking another look at Teal'c he could understand why.

~#~

From his time serving Apophis Teal'c knew that Osiris's personal quarters would be off to one side of the pel'tak and lead the team towards that location. He warned the others that if Osiris's Jaffa were aware of their presence then this is where the final showdown would be likely to take place.

~#~

As expected the first real contact with unfriendly Jaffa was found as the five members of SR-1 neared the pel'tak. They rounded a corner with Teal'c still at the front and were confronted by a full squadron of six heavily armed Jaffa in guard uniform. Luckily for the members of SR-1 none of the Jaffa were wearing their helmets and they were clearly unprepared for the group that they were suddenly faced with.

As they saw the imposing bulk of Teal'c pacing towards them the Jaffa they raised their weapons. Teal'c took action instantly and had taken down the two leading warriors with his zat before the four humans behind him had the chance to react.

A small brawl ensued resulting in the incapacitation of the remaining four Jaffa warriors, a painful but not life-threatening staff wound on Major Templeton's right bicep and a mild concussion for Peters. At some point in the scuffle the unfortunate Sergeant had been sent sprawling to the ground and had knocked his forehead on one of the ornate golden walls lining the corridor as he fell.

While Griff tended to his two wounded men, Nicholson and Teal'c bound the hands and feet of the four unconscious warriors. The pair then dragged the trussed up Jaffa back the way they had come from and deposited them in a side corridor leaving it to the other Jaffa on the ship to decide on the fate of their ex-brothers-in-arms.

Once this was done Teal'c and Nicholson returned to the others. Templeton was wearing Griff's jacket and this was covering his wound and Peters' head was sporting a large and rather obvious white bandage with a large red splotch in the middle of it. It was decided that all five men were well enough to continue although Peters admitted that he'd be less than useful if it came down to a fire-fight seeing as his vision was being affected by the bump to his head.

Teal'c once again led the way, closely followed by Griff. Templeton and Peters were placed in the middle of the group and Nicholson brought up the rear.

~#~

It only took a short while to travel the rest of the way to the pel'tak and when they reached the doorway SR-1 paused. Three men stood on one side and two on the other. The door was ajar and it was obvious to everyone that their fight from minutes before had not alerted any attention from the warriors in the room.

Two Jaffa stood in front of the control panel facing towards the huge window at the front of the ship. As they were facing away from him Teal'c couldn't see which System Lord they served but suspected that they may be loyal to Osiris due to their position on the ship. Two more stood at attention beside a closed door on the far side of the room, both of these bore the mark of Ba'al and no others could be seen. The door to the corridor was blocking the rest of the room from sight so there was no way that a full recon could be carried out but the friendly forces seemed to have the element of surprise on their side which would work in their favour.

Teal'c raised his zat and signalled to the others to be ready. The zats were still primed after their scuffle earlier so there would be no prior warning before the rescue team burst into the room.

One everyone was ready Teal'c stood and kicked the door with his boot. Immediately all four Jaffa sprung into action, the two at the control panel swung round and were zatted almost instantly whereas the two guarding the door to Osiris's chamber reacted differently.

One of the two stepped forwards to cover the other who rapped sharply on the door and uttered a series of barked orders to the guards who were obviously in the other room. Instantly the door swung open and Osiris stalked out, flanked by four of his guards.

SR-1 instinctively took a step backwards and fanned out slightly, this allowed Osiris and his Jaffa to clear the door completely. The System Lord stepped forwards and looked down his nose at SR-1 with amusement on his face.

Neither the Jaffa nor the humans knew what to do with themselves. Everyone was unconsciously waiting for Osiris to make the first move.

The move, once it came was one that no-one expected. Osiris threw his head back and let out an unearthly cackle of laughter. As he brought his head forwards again the curls of Sarah's beautiful red-gold hair fell over his shoulders and settled around his neck. The System Lord's eyes glowed and he pointed at Teal'c.

"Shol'va. You disappoint me. I assume you are under the delusion that you are here to overthrow me? Or maybe you have come to offer yourself to me willingly in a hope that I will spare the life of the infamous Jack O'Neill? I had heard tales that you have become tainted by the Tau'ri during your time with them but I did not truly believe it until now. You have brought only four men with you to defeat a ship of Jaffa warriors. The first prime of Apophis would never willingly undertake a suicide mission such as this."

Teal'c shifted slightly and tightened his grip on his zat and, almost imperceptibly, he signalled the men on either side of him to ready their arms. "As you well know Apophis is a false God. A dead, false God. Had he been anything less than dead you would not have such a number of his Jaffa under your command. You, Osiris - and the others like you - are parasites, both literally and figuratively and you have spread your fear and terror in this galaxy for too many millennia. Your kind must be eradicated before peace can finally be achieved."

At this Teal'c brought his staff weapon down and blasted the nearest Jaffa straight in the middle of his chest. The warrior barely had time to gasp his last breath before he crashed to the floor. The remaining Jaffa roared their displeasure and moved to protect their Osiris. The room descended into chaos after that. Staff blasts were issued from both sides and P-90 fire ricocheted around the room.

Through all this, Osiris stood serenely in the centre of the room, safely protected from bullets and staff blasts by his personal shield and watched the proceeding with an amused expression on his face.

No-one noticed that the injured Sergeant Peters had not joined in the fire-fight and due to the fact that everyone else was occupied with the ongoing battle, Peters was able to slide his way slowly around the outside of the room unimpeded. He carefully moved until he was positioned behind Osiris and stood with his back against the doorframe to the System Lord's quarters. With Osiris intently looking the other way the somewhat wobbly Sergeant was able to extract the tiny silver gun from his pocket and loaded it with two orange feathered tranquiliser darts. He then scanned the room carefully before pushing off from the doorframe.

Inch by inch Peter sidled closer to Osiris until eventually he was standing directly just three feet behind the System Lord. Holding his breath and hoping that what he was about to do would not directly result in his being instantly killed by an irate snake he slowly raised his arm and aimed the gun between the silk covered shoulder blades of Sarah Gardner, slightly to the left of her spinal cord.

As he pressed the trigger the miniature gun let out a loud pop, clearly distinguishable from any other sound in the room. The dart hit home and imbedded itself deep into the muscle of Sarah's back.

Osiris reached a hand round in an attempt to locate the source of the pain within his host's body. Seeing the move Peters stepped back away from the blended pair, raised his gun and fired again.

The second 'pop' resounded around the room and the next dart hit the System Lord in the fleshy area by Sarah's collar bone.

Osiris gasped and tore the dart from his body before turning to confront his attacker. The remaining Jaffa, realising something was wrong with their God, ceased their battling and turned to watch the struggling System Lord. Finding their opponents suddenly ignoring the battle the Griff, Nicholson and Templeton took the opportunity to zat the warriors into unconsciousness before turning back towards Osiris.

A very wobbly Peters was standing in front of a swaying Osiris who was reaching behind himself trying to gain purchase on the bright orange dart in his back. Both individuals looked as if they might keel over at any moment but both were valiantly holding their own in their own personal face-off. While the System Lord's attentions were elsewhere the rest of SR-1 took the time to load darts into their own tranq guns in case Osiris managed to overthrow the effects of the one they could see him grabbing at.

Osiris finally managed to capture the tranquiliser dart between his fingers and pulled it free with a triumphant cry. He threw the extracted dart towards Peters and slowly turned around, clearly expecting his Jaffa warriors to have won the battle and be waiting for his next orders.

Sarah's lips curled into an ugly snarl as the Goa'uld inside her realised he was now alone with five enemy combatants. A momentary flash of panic seemed to cross her eyes as Osiris took a fumbling step away from Teal'c, towards the door of his personal quarters. The effects of the tranquiliser had been strong but not strong enough to incapacitate the Goa'uld symbiote completely.

As Osiris took another stumbling step towards the door three loud pops sounded in the quiet room. One dart bit into the top of Sarah's left arm, another in the side of her neck and a third in her left hip.

The System Lord evidently felt all three darts as they hit and wavered as he looked down at the two darts he could see. He let out a long banshee-like wail then fell silent and began a sudden descent to the floor as his legs buckled beneath him.

With a speed that seemed impossible for a man his size, Teal'c darted forwards and caught the inert form before it made contact with the ground. He quickly checked for a pulse and was pleased when he found what he was looking for - the host was still alive.

"I am sorry, SarahGardner," he muttered quietly as he bound the unconscious woman's wrists together. Moving to her ankles he gave them the same attention before removing the three darts from her body and handing them to Major Griff who retrieved the dart box from his pocket and deposited them safely inside.

Teal'c remained in a crouched position beside the body of Sarah Gardner while he kept a cautious finger on the pulse point on her delicate neck. "MajorTempleton, would you please gather together the darts utilised by SergeantPeters, I believe there should be two of them. The Goa'uld must not be allowed to gain a sample of this drug if we are to retain the advantage that it gives us over them. Please ensure no examples of it are left behind. SergeantNicholson, I believe you are going to be needed to assist SergeantPeters to expedite our exit of this vessel."

"Understood," Nicholson replied and he moved quickly past the large man. He hooked his arm under the shoulder of his younger comrade and started to direct him slowly towards the door. Templeton gathered the two spent darts from the floor and handed them to Griff.

With a roll of his eyes Griff pulled the box from his pocket again and added the two darts to the three he had placed there earlier. Carefully he snapped the lid closed, stuck the box back in his pocket and crouched down beside Teal'c.

"You need some help with her?" he asked quietly.

"I shall be fine," Teal'c replied. "However if I am to carry her in my arms I shall be unable to defend myself therefore I shall require your assistance in a covering capacity. I believe that we should make haste and retrace our steps before we attempt to contact ColonelO'Neill. I believe it is imperative that SarahGardner be delivered to the Tok'ra as soon as possible."

Looking behind him he saw that Peters and Nicholson were waiting by the door to the corridor. Templeton was hovering behind Griff, obviously unsure where to place himself now he'd handed the darts over to his CO.

"You heard the man," Griff told the men. "We're movin' out. Stay alert, the fact that we've overpowered Osiris inside his own ship is bound to cause some big reactions…and the fact that we're takin' him with us might not go down too well either."

Carefully he helped support Sarah's head and neck as Teal'c got her settled into his strong arms. Once the Jaffa had the woman arranged Griff let go of her and followed the others out of the room.


	55. Chapter 55

~#~ (Chapter 55)

It was a little disconcerting travelling towards the ring transporter without knowing the outcome of SR-2's rescue mission but all the members of SR-1 knew they couldn't risk breaking radio silence as the fallout could be disastrous for their friends.

Teal'c followed Griff closely, constantly aware that he had no-one 'covering his six' but knowing that the presence of Osiris in his arms would be enough to curtail any resistance that they may encounter in their journey. No matter how disconcerted Osiris and Ba'al's Jaffa were about the incursion into their ship, they would not risk harming their 'God' by firing upon Teal'c while he was cradling the unconscious body of Osiris.

~#~

They had been making good time and had made it almost half way to the transporter room before encountering a Jaffa of any description.

When finally they met one it was at an intersection between four corridors and was due to a collision between a young Jaffa warrior and Major Templeton who was leading the group and was a fair distance in front of the others.

Templeton had just rounded a corner in the corridor when the young warrior careered out of a side passage and collided with the Major. Templeton immediately noted that the Jaffa was unarmed and instinctively reached out to stop the young man crashing to the ground. As soon as he was back on his feet the young Jaffa wrenched himself from Templeton's grasp, crashed backwards into the wall and slid down it until he sat, panting, his butt in contact with the cold, grey floor.

Templeton realised the youngster was terrified and the Major quickly raised one hand in front of himself in a non threatening gesture while murmuring, "Hey, hey, it's OK. I'm not going to hurt you." Carefully he held his other arm out behind himself to halt the progress of his team-mates, realising that the appearance of more 'enemy soldiers' might be enough to tip the frightened man over the edge into total panic.

The young Jaffa's eyes flicked frantically back and forth from the Air Force Major, the corridor he had just exited and the third passageway joining from the opposite direction. On one glance down the last passageway he obviously saw something or someone he recognised and relief became clearly evident on his face. "Dal'nar," he cried as he jumped up and scurried away from Templeton.

Templeton was slightly confused by the turn of events, but recognised the name 'Dal'nar' from the mission briefing. He stepped back around the corner and found the others waiting for him. Quickly he briefed them as to what had gone on and, as one, the team walked around the corner and towards the intersection in the corridors.

The young Jaffa and the one he had called Dal'nar stepped out of the corridor as the team-mates came to a halt. The youngster baulked slightly at the sight of Osiris cradled in Teal'c arms but Dal'nar moved forwards, clapped his arm to his chest and bowed his head to Teal'c. In clear but heavily accented English he said, "I am Dal'nar of Joulad. It is an honour to finally meet you, Teal'c of Chulak."

Teal'c, with his arms full of unconscious System Lord, was unable to return the bow merely inclined his head in reply.

"Dal'nar of Joulad, I am most pleased to finally make your acquaintance. From our intel we have been led to believe that you may be responsible for the lack of hostility aboard this vessel. Is this correct? May I enquire how you performed a successful uprising in such a short space of time?"

Dal'nar shook his head, "I fear you have been misinformed, it is not of only my doing. It is something that has been looming for some time and was only able to happen due to the timing and circumstances of certain…unfortunate events. The capture and subsequent molestation of your unfortunate comrades turned out to be a catalytic event." Dal'nar paused and looked earnestly at Teal'c, "I trust the young one made it safely back to the planet of the Tau'ri?"

"Indeed he did," Teal'c nodded. "Sergeant Davies is unwell and under medical supervision but it is due to him that we are aware of your part in the coup."

"I am glad he is being taken care of, I admit to being more than a little worried for his well-being when I placed him in the ring transporter. Like this one…" he waved an arm in the direction of the young warrior who had previously crashed into Templeton. "…he was only a youngling although he bore the burden of his comrade well."

Teal'c simply nodded again.

"As you have no doubt seen there are many Jaffa on board this ship who were once allied to a great number of different System Lords. A lot of those System Lords, including my own, have been destroyed by the Tau'ri and many of us had returned home in the hopes that we would be allowed to die free as our indentureship had passed with the death of our Gods." Dal'nar shook his head in disbelief and then continued, "There is talk that the Gods are not as strong as they once were and that eventually the Tau'ri will wipe them out entirely. The fact that such a great number have fallen to the humans of Earth would seem to add validity to the claim."

The huge warrior paused and thought for a moment before adding, "Many of us have been ill-at-ease since we were taken from our homes by the lord Ba'al and gifted to 'the great God Osiris.'" He looked with distain at the motionless form in Teal'c arms. "The great God Osiris' indeed. Not so great…as I now see."

Teal'c nodded his agreement, "Indeed. Osiris is currently incapacitated within his host's body. We shall be delivering both him and SarahGardner to the Tok'ra as soon as it is possible to do so."

"The Tok'ra?" Dal'nar's eyebrows rose at this. "Is this true? They are real? I had thought them to be a myth."

"Believe me they are not only real, they are also in alliance with the Tau'ri. Although they are a dying race and their numbers are steadily decreasing they have much intelligence on the Goa'uld and have developed a successful way of extracting a Goa'uld symbiote from it's chosen host without damage to either party. This is why Osiris, must be sent to them."

Dal'nar opened his mouth to speak again but the young Jaffa beside him beat him to it and quickly rattled off a volley of words in Goa'uld. Teal'c understood the meaning immediately but the rest of SR-1 were left wondering what had been said.

As he saw their blank expressions and before Teal'c got the chance to speak, Dal'nar explained. "This is Liang Quon. He has seen your comrades and they have reached the Jaffa quarters where your people are being held. It is unfortunate that we were not able to free them but Osiris had three of his personal guard assigned to the task, Liang Quon was put in place to be the fourth. The Tau'ri eliminated the three other warriors but thankfully left Liang Quon unharmed. My young comrade here made contact with the 'angry one with hair of wood and stone' but unfortunately was only able to communicate using sign language. He is certain the soldier understood where your people were but is unsure as to whether he understood that there is someone that requires rescuing as well as your soldier and your female."

"You got another prisoner?" Griff asked quickly. "Why didn't we know about this before?"

Dal'nar sighed. "Did your SergeantDavies not explain to you about Lord An? I explained the situation to him and I believed that he understood."

"Sergeant Davies was in no fit state to tell anyone anything." Griff replied. "We're lucky he managed to tell us as much as he did. What you people did to him was sick and he'll more than likely never go out in the field again."

Teal'c stepped forwards to head off Griff before his mouth got him into serious trouble. "Dal'nar, you mention Lord An, who is this? I do not recognise the name as one of the System Lords. Is he perhaps a minor Goa'uld?"

Dal'nar stiffened and looked disdainfully past Teal'c at Griff, "You do not understand the ways of the Jaffa. My people were carrying out the orders of those they believe to be a God. If those orders are not carried out then the Jaffa in question are almost certain to be sentenced to death. Lord An is neither a System Lord nor a God and he is not a prisoner as you understand it either. He is no longer supposed to be onboard the ship. He should have been sent down to the planet but he would have undoubtedly died within a very short space of time. Every moment he is still here his life is in great peril and even more so now that you have overthrown Osiris. On behalf of Lord An I request asylum."

Teal'c growled. He knew the Tau'ri took all asylum requests very seriously although he was as confused as anyone as to why a potential minor Goa'uld would require asylum - especially with the Tau'ri.

Before Teal'c could stop him Griff was off again. "We don't offer asylum to no Goa'uld, whether their life's in danger or not," he said brusquely. "If they want to wipe each other out then we ain't gonna stop 'em. He can go to the Tok'ra with this one," Griff pointed to Osiris/Sarah. "…if you want, but he'll never be allowed to stay on Earth."

Liang Quon was watching the by-play going on between the three men with confusion in his eyes. He couldn't understand the actual words but was clearly following the context of the conversation. With a desperate expression on his face he turned and addressed Teal'c directly.

Teal'c's eyebrows lifted and his forehead furrowed as the meaning of Liang Quon's words hit home.

"Dal'nar, would you escort Sergeants Nicholson and Peters and ensure their safe delivery to the ring transporter. MajorGriff, you, MajorTempleton and myself must meet up with Colonel O'Neill. Lord An will be travelling with us to Earth…and there will be no arguments."

Griff had opened his mouth to object but closed it with a snap upon seeing the look on Teal'c's face.

Teal'c made to wave Griff and Templeton off down the corridor until he suddenly realised he was still cradling Osiris/Sarah. Templeton saw his dilemma and immediately stepped forwards, "Give her here, I'll take her."

Teal'c looked at him and frowned again, "MajorTempleton, will the transportation of this young woman not cause additional damage to your wounded shoulder?"

"I'll be alright," the Major replied bravely. "I only need to carry her until we get to the gate. One of Pierce's team can take her from there."

Teal'c nodded, "Agreed." Carefully he passed the still unconscious Sarah Gardner over to Major Templeton, noticing, but not commenting on, the wince that the Major tried to hide as he took her full weight.

Once he was convinced that Templeton wasn't going to either drop Sarah, keel over in pain, or maybe both, Teal'c stepped back away from him. "Go now. We do not know how long Osiris will remain unresponsive and will require more suitable restraints once the sedation wears off. Please inform GeneralHammond that we shall be bringing back one last refugee when we return."

Templeton nodded and turned towards where Dal'nar and Liang Quon were waiting with Nicholson and Peters. Without another word the Major, System Lord, both Jaffa and the pair of Sergeants set off down the corridor.

With a grim look on his face Teal'c turned to Major Griff. "Have you made contact with ColonelO'Neill?" he asked.

"Er, no," the Major replied. "I'm not really sure what I'm supposed to be tellin' him. No offence but why the hell are we takin' another Goa'uld home? We've got the one we came for, why can't we just leave this 'Lord An' for Ba'al to sort out. It's his ship after all said and done, surely it's his problem?"

Teal'c, in an unusual show of emotion, ran both his hands over his bald head and scrubbed his eyes…hard. Once his hands were back by his sides he looked Griff straight in the eyes and firmly told him, "MajorGriff, am I right in thinking that both listening to and absorbing information are covered in the United States Air Force training program and also independent thinking?"

"Yeaah," Griff said slowly. "Kinda. Why?"

Teal'c looked seriously at the smaller man. "When we return I am going to advise GeneralHammond that maybe you need to revisit the training ground. Dal'nar clearly told us that Lord An is not a Goa'uld…System Lord or otherwise."

"Riight, didn't get that. He said he's not a God, nor a System Lord. That don't mean he ain't one of the minor Goa'ulds though, does it?"

"I hold opposing views to you on this one, it does in fact mean exactly that," Teal'c replied. "Dal'nar and Liang Quon have both verified to me that Lord An does not have a symbiote inside of his body. If we are successful in removing him from the Jaffa quarters and taking him back to Earth then I am certain that General Hammond will grant the asylum that has been requested."

"I'm sorry but how can you say that?" Griff asked. "You can't guarantee what the General's going to say. What's so special about this guy that makes you so certain the General will take him in?"

Teal'c sighed quietly. "MajorGriff. Please believe me when I say that GeneralHammond will grant Lord An asylum when we get back to Earth. Of this I have no doubt."

Griff just couldn't leave it. "But…"

"Enough," Teal'c barked, exasperated by the constant arguments from the Air Force Major. "GeneralHammond will grant asylum to Lord An because Lord An is a child. One described as having hair like the sun and eyes like a cloudy sky. Now we need to contact ColonelO'Neill before he moves away from the location of the Jaffa quarters. A Ha'tak vessel is no place for a child."


	56. Chapter 56

~#~ (Chapter 56)

Teal'c grabbed his radio and quickly depressed the button twice in quick succession and after receiving a quiet "go ahead" in reply, briefly apprised Colonel O'Neill as to their current situation. He explained that Osiris had been temporarily neutralised and that the System Lord, along with Sarah Gardner, was presently on his way back to Earth, safe in the arms of Major Templeton.

Jack was glad to hear that the tranquiliser darts had done their job and proceeded to tell the large Jaffa what his team had been doing since they last spoke. Liang Quon had already told Teal'c that SR-2 had reached the Jaffa quarters safely but the gentle warrior was most pleased to discover that Major Carter and Colonel Ferretti had been found alive and, at least relatively, well.

Once Jack had finished his report Teal'c quickly brought the Colonel up to speed on the 'Lord An' situation and advised him to maintain his position until Teal'c could reach his location. To save any accidents he asked Jack to alert his team that both himself and Major Griff would be joining them shortly to which Jack replied that the other members of the rescue team had heard the conversation and that everyone was ready and waiting.

As soon as he'd released the button on his radio for the final time Teal'c straightened himself and motioned to Griff to follow him. He then turned on his heel and set off down the corridor at a fast pace forcing the much shorter legged Air Force Major to trot in his wake.

~#~

While they were waiting for Teal'c both Jack and Lou fussed over Sam. She briefly tried to object until Lou told Jack that she'd all but passed out on him just after they'd been locked in the small room and this flipped Jack completely into mother-hen mode. Once Jack had his overprotective head on Sam knew there was no stopping him so surrendered herself to his ministrations.

Lou quietly explained that the cut under Sam's chin had come from the finger of Osiris's ribbon device and apologised profusely for not realising that Sam was bleeding so badly until the blood loss made her faint.

Jack watched the other Colonel intently as his comrade spoke and knew in his heart exactly how Lou was feeling. He'd had men under his command injured plenty of times in the past and knew that, unfortunately, circumstances didn't always allow for adequate medical attention to be given the instant that it became necessary. Seeing the guilt on Lou's face he bit back the sarcastic jibe that he had originally prepared to use on Ferretti - the one about how he was going to kick Lou's butt for not looking after Sam properly.

Instead he allowed Lou to get some more water into Sam, and was impressed when this was followed by a few small bites of powerbar. Jack meanwhile gently cleaned most of the blood from her chin and neck. Patting her front gently he grimaced at the stickiness of the congealed blood. He knew that psychologically Sam would feel better in clean clothes but due to the fact that the rescue teams had packed everything they could carry into their vests no-one had any clothing other than what they were wearing. The rest of their equipment was with SG-15 at the gate and neither Sam nor Lou's packs were anywhere to be seen so there was nothing Jack, or anyone else, could do about the current clothing situation.

Once the two fussing Colonel's could find nothing else to do with Sam, Lou slipped off the cot. Jack sat down in Lou's original position at the head of the cot and rested his back against the wall. Once he was settled he pulled Sam gently towards him and snuggled her closely to his chest.

Lou stretched, scrubbed his hands over his face and slowly wandered to the door where Reynolds and the others were waiting.

Reynolds reached out an arm as he approached and laid a hand on Lou's shoulder. "It's good to see you Lou," he told his long-time friend. "How're you holding up?"

Before he answered Lou looked back at Jack and Sam who were quietly murmuring to one another. "I'm OK now…" he paused as a shudder ran through him. "Must admit though, I was…more than a bit worried for a while before you lot kicked your way in here. It's not like Sam to take a nose dive like that and she's been pretty out of it since she dropped."

Reynolds followed his gaze with a soft expression on his face. "She seems more with it now, doesn't she." He gently squeezed Lou's shoulder, "You did the best you could with what little supplies you had available, Lou. Major Carter may be a bit banged up but she's here to tell the tale, that's the main thing. You done good, Lou."

Lou looked sadly downwards and kicked at the floor with the toe of his boot. "My best wasn't good enough though was it? Not really," he said quietly. "Not good enough for Sam, not good enough for Sergeant Davies and certainly not good enough for Jimmy Sands."

There was nothing Reynolds could say in reply to that. He knew that the kind-hearted Italian Colonel would feel responsible for the death of his team-mate on this botched mission for a long time to come. He settled for a comradely silence but left his hand on Lou's shoulder to remind the other Colonel that he wasn't alone.


	57. Chapter 57

~#~ (Chapter 57)

A short time later the teams waiting in the Jaffa quarters heard their radio's click twice.

"That'll be T and Griff," Ferretti told the others quietly, depressing the button on his radio twice in reply.

Teal'c's quiet but firm voice came clearly through the radio a couple of seconds later. "ColonelO'Neill, ColonelReynolds, are you receiving."

Lou went to answer but Colonel Reynolds beat him to it. "Reynolds receiving, Teal'c. Where are you?"

"ColonelReynolds, we are approaching your position and I estimate that we shall reach you in approximately two minutes." Teal'c replied. "How is Major Carter faring?"

This time Lou beat Reynolds to the button. "Sam's doing OK now, T. Oh, and I'm fine too, thanks for your concern."

Reynolds gave his comrade an incredulous look. Did Ferretti really just say that over the radio in the middle of a mission?

Lou just gave him a cocky grin and a shrug. "What can I say? We're pretty much the top dogs here now. Osiris is on his way back to Earth and we've pretty much eliminated any hostile Jaffa forces. Take a chill pill, Colonel."

Reynolds just shrugged in return and turned his attentions back to the radio as Teal'c replied to the feisty Italian's comment.

"ColonelFerretti, it is good to hear your voice again my friend. I am most pleased to hear you in such high spirits and I believe that bodes well for the continuation of this assignment. Myself and MajorGriff will be with you very shortly. Teal'c out."

Lou shook his head, chuckling at how Teal'c used so many words to say so little. "Backatcha T. See ya soon. Ferretti out."

~#~

Less than a minute later the officers gathered by the door heard the sound of booted feet approaching them at a brisk pace. Knowing that Teal'c and Griff were headed in their direction Summerville, Reynolds, Bell and Ferretti remained relatively relaxed but with their weapons raised - just in case.

Each man let out a small sigh as Teal'c stopped in the centre of the crossroads and paused. As he looked up and down the door-lined corridors, Summerville and Bell stepped out of the door of the little room in which they were all waiting and hailed him.

Teal'c acknowledged the two men and after a few brief seconds was joined by an out of breath Major Griff. Teal'c gave the Major a brief second to catch his breath before setting off again. Side by side, the Major and the Jaffa stepped down the corridor and finally, for the first time in too many days, the surviving members of SG-2 were reunited.

~#~

Jack, knowing that Sam would be loath to show any weakness in front of Teal'c, had quietly slipped from the cot. Carefully he had lowered Sam's legs over the edge of the bed and slowly helped her sit up.

Once she was vertical and supporting herself, Jack had passed her a canteen of water and pressed another powerbar into her hands. With a grateful look she had taken a sip of the drink and by the time Teal'c entered the room she was sitting up on her own, quietly munching on the powerbar.

The large Jaffa acknowledged Lou Ferretti and Greg Bell as he stepped through the doorway but there was only one person he truthfully needed to see. His commanding officer and team-mate understood this and stepped aside so that Teal'c could go to Sam.

The fact that Sam had been placed in danger and subsequently injured on the ship whilst Teal'c and his team had masqueraded as guards in relative safety on the planet below had left him with deep feelings of shame and guilt. When Jack had left for the Alpha site, the mild-mannered Teal'c had pledged to him that he would protect Sam in any way he could and he felt he had now failed his Tau'ri comrades.

Jack could see the guilt in the large Jaffa's eyes as Teal'c made his way towards them and dropped to his knees by Sam's feet.

"MajorCarter, please forgive me for constructing the plan that allowed you to become damaged in this way. I…"

Jack caught Teal'c's eyes at this point willing him not to mention the pact that the two men held. He knew that Sam would be non-too-impressed if she ever found out about it, thoroughly believing that Jack underestimated her capabilities in the field. Jack, and Teal'c, were both well aware of how well Sam handled herself under fire but both men loved her - albeit in different ways - and would have gladly laid down their lives for her if it was required.

Teal'c clearly understood the unspoken message and continued, "…Please accept my apologies. Myself and MajorGriff have come to assist with the liberation of Lord An from his quarters and then, I believe it correct to say…we can all get the heck out of Dodge."

A smile crept onto Sam's lips at Teal'c use of one of Jack's favourite catchphrases.

Jack snorted and clapped him on the back. "Got it in one there, big guy. We've got the girl, we'll get the boy and then…as you so rightly said, we'll get the heck out of Dodge."

Sam reached out and clasped hold of one of Teal'c's massive hands. "You don't need to apologise, Teal'c," she said softly. "The plan was a good one and I'm OK now, really I am. We've saved as many Chamakans as was humanly possible and we've finally apprehended Osiris. Better still we've done it in such a way that might mean Sarah Gardner can be saved."

Teal'c looked down at his large brown hand cradled tenderly between Sam's delicate looking ones and closed his eyes. "I have great hopes that the Tok'ra will be able to free SarahGardner from the clutches of Osiris although I am certain that the System Lord will not relinquish such a body willingly. I worry that SarahGardner may be damaged beyond repair if the symbiote puts up too great a fight."

Both Sam and Jack grimaced at this.

Sam shook her head to clear the awful vision that Teal'c's words had put there. "And then there's this ship," she spoke again. "I'm sure you've not forgotten that Jaffa on this ship are now free. I don't know what will happen to them now but you'd know more about that than me."

Teal'c simply replied with a quiet, "Indeed."

"And, don't forget, T. If we can get Lord An out of here then we've saved another child from being snaked." Jack felt he needed to get his point across as well. "That's a good thing on any day."


	58. Chapter 58

~#~ (Chapter 58)

**This chapter contains descriptions from Teal'c about the way the Jaffa are forced to deal with their disabled offspring. If this might upset you please skip to chapter 59. It is written in such a way that it won't matter if you miss out this chapter entirely.**

~#~

Teal'c gently extracted his hand from Sam's and gracefully stood back up to his full height.

"O'Neill. There is no longer any risk of Lord An being taken over by one of the false Gods. The false God Ba'al has already rejected him as a host. The risk to the child comes from a lack of suitable care and nourishment. The Jaffas, Dal'nar and Liang Quon both told me that the child has been aboard the ship for many months and although they have supplied him with food they have been unsuccessful in interacting with him in any way."

"Why?" Lou asked, having wandered over with Reynolds and Bell once Teal'c had got back to his feet.

"Why?" Teal'c looked quizzically at him. "ColonelFerretti, I am uncertain what are you asking me. Please attempt to be more specific with your question and I will endeavour to supply you with the answer you require."

Ferretti cleared his throat uncomfortably. "I mean why has Ba'al rejected him and also why haven't the Jaffa…er…looked after him properly?"

"Both very good questions, Lou." Jack nodded in his direction. "…Which I wouldn't mind answers to myself. Also why the hell have they kept him here? Why not drop him off somewhere? Surely it can't be that hard to find someone to take on one little boy?"

Teal'c sighed loudly and rubbed his chin with his left hand. The human's in the room looked at him in shock.

"T?" Jack questioned.

Teal'c looked him straight in the eye. "I apologise, O'Neill. I find this situation most distasteful and was just attempting to compose my answer to your many questions in such a way to cause least offence."

Ferretti answered this time. "S'Okay T-man. We're all big boys and…er…girl here. Just hit us with it, I'm sure we'll cope."

"Agreed," Teal'c nodded, clearly still trying to work out exactly what he wanted to say. "While on your world I have seen how your children are cherished no matter their colour, creed or capability. Am I correct?"

The others in the room nodded so he continued. "Such a thing is not always so on Chulak or many of the other worlds where the Goa'uld take their hosts or indeed their Jaffa."

"Not following you, T," Jack said with a frown on his face.

"O'Neill, you yourself have commented before that the Goa'uld choose beautiful and perfect specimens for their hosts, have you not? And that they surround themselves with attractive and healthy aides and assistants?" Teal'c directed the question at Jack but was fully aware that the others were listening too.

Jack looked uncomfortable. "I…might have mentioned that from time to time, yeah. I mean there are those that seem to buck the trend, Cronus and Yu for example but on the whole I'd say so, yeah, beautiful, perfect…What of it though?"

"Have you never wondered what happens to those individuals that are not so attractive or those who are flawed?" Teal'c tilted his head slightly to one side as the others absorbed his words.

Jack answered after a short silence. "Nooo, can't say I've really thought about that. I guess I'd just assumed that the Jaffa didn't pick out the ugly, elderly or the infirm so the Goa'uld never got to see them."

Teal'c nodded, "And what of the Jaffa themselves?" he asked.

"I dunno," Jack replied uncomfortably. "That the Jaffa who didn't make the grade stayed in the villages on Chulak or wherever they came from? Maybe farming and the like to feed the warriors?" Jack's speech petered out. "I'm guessing though, by the look on your face, that this isn't so? Is this something that we don't really want to know?"

"I believe that it may well be, O'Neill," Teal'c answered. "In towns where the Jaffa women birth their offspring it is forbidden for any defective child be allowed to live. It is commanded that any child carrying an obvious imperfection be judged by the Gods before being allowed to suckle from the mother's breast for the first time. If a flaw becomes obvious once the child is older then a similar test will be required."

Jack looked down at Sam on the cot when he saw her shudder. "What sort of test are we talking about here Teal'c?"

"There is a pen'chak stone outside every village," Teal'c explained. "The mother must place her offspring on the stone and not return until the Gods have judged whether the child is worthy. For a newly birthed child the judgement takes the span of five sunrises. For older children an extra sunrise is added for each year of the child's life."

"Teal'c, you're saying that a newborn baby is left on a stone, outside of the village for five whole days?" Lou asked, feeling quite sick at what he was hearing. "And the mother goes along with this?"

"She has no choice," Teal'c replied. "It is the way it has always been."

"What if the she refuses?" Sam asked.

"Then the child, mother and any other offspring will be ejected from the village and will be declared dead," Teal'c explained. "The rest of the village are forbidden from interacting, in any way, with the woman or her children and it is commonplace that the entire family starve within a few moon cycles."

"I can't believe what I'm hearing here, Teal'c. You all agree to this? To do this to your own children?" Jack wondered if he looked as green as Lou as he asked this.

Teal'c looked ashamed, "It is one of the more reprehensible acts that the Jaffa are asked to perform in the name of their God. It is the God's way of keeping the Jaffa race pure and strong. If the child is judged worthy then he or she will still be alive after the final sunrise. They will then be welcomed back into the village and a feast will be held in their honour."

"And how many of these children survive?" Jack questioned his friend.

"I know of none, O'Neill." Teal'c replied truthfully. "More often than not the child is absent when the mother goes to the stone at the appointed time. It is said they have been taken by the Gods but none are ever returned. On occasion the child will still be on or near to the pen'chak stone but I have never heard of one of these offspring being alive when they are found."

"That's what I guessed," Jack said quietly, shaking his head. "They all died but some faster than others. Chances are the ones who were allegedly taken by the Gods were taken by the local wildlife and they were probably the luckier ones. Those poor souls who were found on and around the stone would have more than likely died slow and painful deaths from exposure and lack of even the most basic care. Sorry Teal'c but leaving a child to die like that it tantamount to murder."

Ferretti took a cautious look at Jack and then dropped his gaze to Sam. Both guessed this would be bringing back bad memories for Jack. The sanctity of each and every child's life was woven deep into the ethos that made up Jack O'Neill. The idea that the Jaffa were made to sacrifice their children in such a way was deplorable to every person in the room but for Jack, who had lost his much loved, only child to a tragic accident it was simply inexcusable.

"Teal'c, what's this got to do with Lord An?" Lou asked, wanting to give Jack a moment of respite from questioning and being questioned by Teal'c.

Teal'c turned his eyes towards the Colonel. "Lord An has an incurable defect and has therefore been rejected by Lord Ba'al. Once he was rejected Lord An should have either been placed on a pen'chak stone or simply sent down to the mines on Chamaka where he would have ultimately died within days. The Jaffa aboard this ship were unwilling to complete the task and although their plan was…imperfect they risked the wrath of Lord Ba'al and protected the boy. It now falls to us to transport the child to safety, in the most expedient manner possible."


	59. Chapter 59

~#~ (Chapter 59)

The others nodded their agreement.

"So we gonna go and spring this kid?" Lou questioned. "Er…do we actually know where he is?"

"He's somewhere down the end of the other corridor," Jack replied, raising his eyebrows at Teal'c for verification.

When Teal'c nodded Jack continued, "I get what that youngster was trying to tell me now. At the time it made no sense 'cos I didn't know what the heck 'An' was. Now…now it all becomes clear."

"I have been told that Lord An's training had begun before he was rejected by Lord Ba'al," Teal'c explained to his team-mates. "Dal'nar also informed me that he is a most frightened and unapproachable child. Whether this is due to his situation or the defect in his vision I am uncertain."

"What?" Jack asked. "Teal'c, you telling us the kid can't see? That's his 'defect'?" He spat out the last, clearly using it only because Teal'c had used it before him.

Teal'c inclined his head in Jack's direction. "Indeed. I was informed that, during training, Lord An's eyes ceased to function. This made him an unsuitable candidate for the future implantation of a Goa'uld symbiote and he was subsequently rejected. Since that time has resided in the end room of the adjoining corridor."

"On his own?" Jack asked incredulously. "With no parental care of any description?"

Teal'c nodded slowly before replying. "That is my belief, O'Neill."

Jack shook his head in disbelief. "Child abuse. Yet another reason for us to despise the System Lords."

"As if we needed another reason," Lou added quietly. "Let's go get him Colonel. The sooner we get him off this bucket of bolts the better. I'm sure Janet'll be only to happy to accommodate him in the infirmary for the next few days while we find somewhere proper for him to live. I don't suppose there'll be any records anywhere as to where he came from would there Teal'c?"

Teal'c shook his head. "I believe that would be highly unlikely ColonelFerretti. Especially as we are onboard a ship commanded by Osiris and not Lord Ba'al himself."

"Formerly T," Jack reminded his friend. "Formerly commanded."

"Indeed," came the reply and with that Teal'c swung round and strode through the door.

Jack raised his eyebrows and looked at the others. After seeing confused looks and shrugged shoulders all round he motioned for everyone to follow the Jaffa.

One by one everyone filed out of the room until only Jack, Lou and Sam remained. Sam was still sitting on the edge of the cot but was looking much brighter. Jack motioned to Lou who held out a hand and helped Sam to her feet. She nodded gratefully and steadied herself, offering a smirk to the two men when both Colonels held hands out in her direction as if they expected her to fade away at any moment.

"I'm OK guys," she assured them but was quietly pleased that her commanding officer remained close by her side - just in case.

Jack brought up the rear, placing Sam and Ferretti directly in front of him and the strange trio followed the rest of their comrades out of the room.

~#~

The rescue teams passed down the corridor and across the intersection without seeing any Jaffa, friendly or otherwise and very soon they reached their destination.

As they stopped outsider the door Jack slunk to the head of the party and spoke to Teal'c. "Should we be expecting trouble in there?" he asked quietly.

"I do not believe so," Teal'c replied. "As I previously stated, I was informed that the child was alone - however I would advise caution. Everything Dal'nar has told me thus far has proved truthful but he may not be in possession of all the knowledge that we require for a safe assessment."

Jack pursed his lips as he mulled this over. "Might not've got all his memos," he said, shrugging. "Fair enough. Everyone ready?"

A chorus of affirmative replies came back to him and, with a gentle nudge of his foot, Jack tested the door. Finding it locked he cocked an eyebrow at Teal'c.

The Jaffa merely nodded his reply and quietly murmured, "It is most probably for his own protection, O'Neill. A child loose on a Ha'tak vessel could have long lasting repercussions. Also, think what may have become of the boy had Osiris discovered his presence."

"True," Jack agreed with a shudder. "You wanna do the honours, T?"

Teal'c nodded so Jack moved aside and allowed him some space. The large Jaffa stepped backwards, smashed the door lock mechanism with his staff weapon and then kicked the door - hard.

~#~

The door splintered and flew open, swinging wide and hitting the wall behind itself with a loud booming crash.

"Huh," commented Jack. "Didn't do that when I kicked the last one."

At the first sign of Teal'c's raised eyebrow Jack threw his arms up in exasperation. "What? I'm just sayin'. The doors on this side are obviously weaker than where Sam was locked up. Anyway, follow me."

Sergeants Summerville and Bell passed Teal'c and followed Jack into the room. Next came Lou and Sam and, upon seeing Teal'c's somewhat bemused expression, Lou chuckled. He patted one of the Jaffa's massive arms and, just loud enough for Jack to hear, said, "Or maybe it's 'cos you've got stronger legs, eh, big guy? Maybe someone's old knee's just aren't what they once were!"

A light-hearted but grumbled reply came from the room beyond the door; "Someone's old knees are just fine, thank you for your concern. I'm just wondering if maybe a certain Italian Colonel might like to find out just how many jons there are in the mountain, when he gets up close and personal cleaning them."

"Aw," replied Lou. "You wouldn't?"

"No, he wouldn't," Sam replied before Jack could get another word in. "Unless he wants to be sleeping in a very cold bed for the foreseeable future!"

Jack's reply came back very muffled and as Sam and Lou stepped back into the room they soon found why - there was an extra door between themselves and Jack. The room, being identical to the one that had recently held both Major Carter and Colonel Ferretti was very spartan, containing the two regulation cots and a door to the bathroom. It was this door that Jack was behind.

The door opened and Jack's head popped out. "Hey T, there's no-one here," he hollered out to the room in general. "There's no sign there was ever a child in here. No toys, no mess...nothing out of place. Have we definitely got the right room?"

Teal'c strode inside and looked around. "We have indeed. This is the room that Dal'nar informed me holds Lord An, therefore logic states that he should be here somewhere."

"Er, didn't we have a conversation about memos already, T?" Jack asked, his voice thick with sarcasm but before Teal'c had a chance to reply another voice spoke out in muted tones.

"Er, guys."

Everyone stopped to work out who had spoken. After a moment the voice came again, from the floor beside one of the two cots in the room. Colonel Reynolds was crouched close to the bed on the right hand side of the door through which Jack had just emerged and was clearly making himself as small as his nearly-six-foot frame would allow. He was looking under the cot with his head resting on the floor and once he realised he'd got Jack and the others attention he quietly informed everyone, "I think I found him."


	60. Chapter 60

~#~ (Chapter 60)

As Jack stepped forwards and slowly knelt down beside the cot, Reynolds shuffled backwards to allow him more room but continued to keep an eye on the small figure he had discovered huddled close to the wall under the bed.

Jack lowered himself to mirror Reynolds' position and once his head was level with the other Colonel's he turned to follow Reynolds' gaze and his breath caught in his throat as he took in the sight of the terrified child.

Small arms were clasped tightly over a mop of dirty blonde hair and the hair topped a head that looked far too large for the tiny, shuddering body that it was attached to. The child's body was clad in what had obviously, at some time in the past, been a miniature version of the kitschy Goa'uld robes that many of the System Lords favoured. These robes, however, had clearly seen better days. Where once they had been rich gold and bronze colours they were now excessively dirty and grimy and were showing signs of wear near the bottom where the boy had obviously crawled around in them. Even the most severe washing by the dedicated workers of the SGC laundry would not be enough to get them clean.

Jack thought to himself that dressing a child in such gaudy finery was disgraceful although probably typical of the System Lords but he was surprised that they had let the child remain in such expensive-looking clothes once he had been 'rejected' during training.

A shudder went through the Colonel as he thought what the boy may have gone through in his short life and, steeling himself for rejection, Jack uncurled his arm from beneath himself.

Reynolds saw the movement in Jack's arm and instantly knew what the other Colonel was about to do. He looked between Jack and the child and quickly scooted backwards, well out of the way but within easy reach if the boy should try to run. He had realised that one unknown adult would surely upset the boy but two fully frown men trying to drag him from his hiding place would probably be more than any youngster would be able to handle, let alone this terrified scrap of a child who had probably not known a single day's love and affection since being taken from his parents.

~#~

While murmuring quiet 'shushing' noises Jack slowly extended his arm towards the quaking youngster and, with one finger, gently stroked one of the tiny arms that were still tightly clasped over the boy's head.

The reaction to the touch was instantaneous. The boy squeaked and tried to roll away from Jack only to find his movement impeded by both the wall behind him and the cot above so he lowered his arms to bat Jack's hand away. As he did so the Colonel noticed that the youngster's left hand was tightly bound in many layers of a thin, olive coloured material and that only the fingers on his hand were free. The strip of material disappeared way up into the sleeve of his robe and Jack couldn't tell where it ended.

Jack quickly withdrew his arm a little way when the child moved and was graced with a quick flash of milky blue eyes as the boy's hands scrabbled for purchase on the cold metallic floor.

Realising that he was completely trapped An squirmed in his spot and then attempted to kick out at Jack with his feet. Unfortunately this action proved impossible as the robes the child was wearing had tangled around him in his panic. Instead the boy let out an almighty wail and began to scream at Jack in a language that the Colonel could only assume was Goa'uld.

He withdrew his arm completely from under the bed and sat up. The litany of screeches from under the bed quietened to a disturbing chunter but never completely abated.

In deference to his knees and knowing that if he got up he was only going to have to get back down again, Jack remained in a sitting position. With his right knee pulled up towards his body he sat with one arm draped over his leg and from this somewhat ungainly spot on the floor he addressed the others.

"I think we might have a problem getting the little tyke to go with us. He's terrified. I barely touched him but anyone would have thought I'd just tried dragging him out of there by his arm. I don't wanna think what he's been through to provoke such a strong reaction. T, I assumed that was Goa'uld he was yelling at me?"

"Indeed it was, O'Neill," came Teal'c's rumbled reply. Before continuing, the large Jaffa dropped to one knee and peered at the still mumbling child under the bed. Gracefully he then rose to his feet and looked back down at Jack. "The spoken language was Goa'uld although looking at the size and apparent age of the child I am surprised by the content of the vocalisations."

"Content of the vocalisations, T?" Jack asked. "That your way of saying the kid's got a bit of a potty mouth?"

Teal'c nodded. "That is true, O'Neill, although I would have to say more than 'a bit'." Teal'c enhanced Jack's phrase. Such a young one should not have been privy to many of those phrases. Some of them would not have been out of place had they been spoken by the Marines of Stargate Command."

"Ah," said Jack quietly. "I see. I'm assuming that this is going to be the first of many...how shall we say...'interesting' quirks that we're going to find about this boy once we get him home."

"I believe that may be true, O'Neill." Teal'c nodded. "However I worry this may be one of the least innocuous problems about Lord An that we may experience."

Jack grimaced, "Don't say that, T. Please don't say that. Whatever happens we're taking the boy home. We'll deal with the fallout...afterwards."

Teal'c nodded, he knew as well as any of the other Stargate personnel that Jack O'Neill would not rest until the child was safely delivered to the tender care of Janet Fraiser. All those present knew that Jack would oversee the placement of the boy into the loving family that would be found for him and that the Colonel would thoroughly vet said family before they got anywhere near the child.

"I am not disputing the fact that the boy is going home with us, O'Neill," he said placatingly. "I am merely stating that the transition from 'heir apparent of the Lord Ba'al' to 'small and insignificant child of the Tau'ri' will not be an easy one...for anyone concerned, least of all for Lord An himself."

"I understand that, Big Guy. Even so, we're going to give this little guy the best chance we can...but first we've got to get him off this ship and that, unfortunately for us, also means we've got to get him out from under this bed. Any volunteers, seeing as 'Lord An' seems to have taken a dislike to me?"

"I shall attempt to speak to the child, O'Neill," Teal'c replied. "If I speak in the tongue he is accustomed to maybe it will help."

"Go for it, T Man," Jack nodded. "God knows I can't understand a word he's saying. Everyone else...how about everyone else settle in across the way there." Jack pointed towards the door. "I don't think we need an audience for this. Two guarding the corridor at all times, the rest of you take a load off."

There was a muttering among the others but Teal'c merely nodded, stepped forward slightly and then stopped, apparently unsure about something.

"What you waiting for, Big Guy?" Jack asked, still in his same position on the floor.

Teal'c looked uncomfortable for a moment until Ferretti, seeing his predicament, could resist no longer. "Your somewhat portly Alpha Site ass is in the way, Jack," he crowed gleefully.

Jack snorted. "I'll have you know that my gluteus maximus is perfectly proportioned, thank you very much," and with that he held out his arm for Lou to help him up.

"Move your butt, Colonel O'Neill, sir?" Lou chuckled and grasped Jack's hand. "Certainly, sir."

Jack grumbled under his breath about the fact he'd come all this way to rescue certain ungrateful Colonels, then proceeded to grin and pat Lou on the back once he was upright. As the two men stepped back from the cot Ferretti turned and winked at Sam before herding everyone else out of the door. Sam simply shook her head at the antics of the two friends and turned her attentions to Teal'c.


	61. Chapter 61

~#~ (Chapter 61)

Once Jack was no longer in his way Teal'c stepped forward and once again lowered himself gracefully to one knee. He then paused for a moment as he rethought his previous decision and dropped his second knee to the floor as well so that he was kneeling parallel to the cot under which Lord An was now silently hiding.

After resting his arms on the floor in front of himself and lowering his massive upper body to the floor the large Jaffa turned his head to one side and looked towards the huddled figure beneath the bed.

An, sensing movement but hearing no harsh voices and feeling no hands seizing him, uncurled slightly and turned his head towards Teal'c's position. His milky coloured eyes seemed to fix on Teal'c but neither fear nor recognition showed on his face.

"O'Neill," Teal'c whispered quietly, not wanting to startle the boy now that he seemed calmer. "The boy appears less anxious now. I admit to finding it disconcerting that he does not obviously see me even though he appears to be looking at me."

"Hang in there, Big Guy. I got a brief flash of the eyes too and they're a little...unsettling - I admit that," Jack replied in a hushed voice. "It's just all the more reason to take him home so ol' Doc Fraiser can have a real good look at him. Poor little tyke, gonna take him out of here and let the Doc use him as a pin...ow!"

Jack cut off as Sam kicked him firmly on the shin. "What?"

Sam frowned. "Jack, he's only a little boy and you're only going to scare him more, talking like that," she scolded. "Now shut up and let Teal'c speak to him."

Jack lifted a finger and poked gently at Sam's shoulder. "That's one point to me. He doesn't understand a word I'm saying, remember? So how am I going to scare him? He doesn't know who Doc Fraiser is, nor what her needles are. Now does he..? He doesn't, does he T?"

An exasperated huff came from Teal'c's position on the floor as the Jaffa swung his head round to look at the others. "I am unable to answer your question as I have so far been unable to attempt any communication with the child due to your senseless prattling. Would you kindly restrain your tongue and I shall endeavour to do the task which I have been assigned."

Jack stepped even further away from Teal'c, made a zipping motion across his mouth with his finger and thumb and sunk down with his back against the wall nearest the door. Looking around he realised that Ferretti was sitting on the floor of the corridor - quietly watching him at the same time as guarding the corridor. He nodded his thanks to the other Colonel for following out his wishes in keeping the others out of the way but also acknowledging that the other man had remained near enough should he be needed in case of an emergency.

Teal'c, apparently satisfied with Jack's continued silence, turned his head back to the boy.

~#~

Sam, Jack and Lou listened to the soothing tones of the Jaffa, unable to understand the language but picking up on the soft timbre of Teal'c's voice as, in muted tones, the large man uttered a few quiet words to the hidden child beneath the bed. After a few further attempts at conversation Teal'c was finally rewarded with a softly spoken reply from the youngster.

Jack looked sideways and when he met Lou's eyes he saw a look of relief mirrored back at him when it became clear that the boy was not reacting to Teal'c in the same way he had to Jack himself. The Colonel was a little affronted in the fact that he was usually the one that children gravitated towards and yet in his heart he knew that this child was unlike any other that he, nor anyone else in the vicinity - Teal'c included - had met before. This boy would need the utmost in careful handling, not only for the fact that he had an obvious disability but for the fact that he came from a completely unknown background and had then been forced into training by the merciless Jaffa of an even more heartless System Lord. That the child was sound enough in body and mind to be holding the somewhat stilted conversation that he was having with Teal'c was testament to the sturdiness and amazing adaptability of the boy and Jack hoped that this would help to carry the child through the next few days which were bound to be some of the most confusing in Lord An's short life.

~#~

After a while Teal'c sat back upon his knees with a slightly perplexed look upon his face.

"What's up T?" Jack asked, scrambling to his feet as he caught sight of the Jaffa's expression.

"The boy is unwilling to come out from beneath the bed, O'Neill," Teal'c replied, unfolding himself from the floor and stepping away from the bed and towards Jack. "He appeared to believe me when I explained to him that we were here to take him to a better place but he knows that he is Kresh'taa - an outcast - and that he has been marked for death so is refusing to move. He also became even more sceptical when I told him that the Tau'ri are a good people and that they would be willing to grant him sanctuary from Lord Ba'al."

"Not just willing, T," Jack reminded him. "Far more than willing. We need to get the little guy back to Janet and get him fitted into a secure family environment. If it puts one in the eye of ol' Bache while we're at it then so much the better."

Teal'c nodded. "I concur, O'Neill. Although if the child will not remove himself willingly from his hiding place I fear that we may have to do exactly what he expected us to do in the first place."

"What? What did I say he expected?" Jack asked with a grimace. "Oh, that we were here to drag him out?"

"That is precisely what you said," came Teal'c's reply. "Although I believe that you specified he expected to be dragged out by one arm. I believe we can extract him with more consideration than that."

"You bet we can," Ferretti piped up from behind Jack. "Let Sam have a go."

Jack turned to the Italian Colonel who had slipped back into the room unnoticed. "Er Lou, in case you haven't noticed Sam doesn't speak Goa'uld."

"No, I know that but she's great with kids." At Jack's questioning 'and you know this how?' eyebrow Lou quickly replied, "You should've seen her with the kids down on the planet - she's a natural."

Jack shrugged, "I believe you Lou and I'm sure I'll find out about that in all good time but I just got the 'Damsel and Colonel in distress' message before I high-tailed it out here to find you. Other than getting yourselves captured I don't really know much of what you've been up to." Jack knew he'd get a rise out of Sam at the damsel comment and quickly sidestepped away from her before she had the chance to kick him again.

Lou issued a little huff of laughter as he worked out why Jack had moved away. "Whipped," he whispered as he stepped back into the corridor. He said it just loud enough for Jack to hear but far too quietly for Sam to pick up, knowing full well that Sam would redirect any retaliation at him when she realised that she could no longer reach Jack.

Sam knew exactly what was going on between the two but was too tired to react. "It's OK, Teal'c. I'll have a go," she said quietly pushing past Jack as she stepped towards the cot. Jack grasped her arm as she passed by him and gave it a worried squeeze. Sam gave a wan smile and replied, "I'm OK, Jack. Just let me try this then we can go home. I really, really want to go home."


	62. Chapter 62

~#~ (Chapter 62)

Jack picked up on the slight hint of desperation in Sam's voice and realised that although upright and walking, Sam was still feeling weak from her collapse earlier. "OK," he whispered but he still waited for Teal'c to take her other arm before he let go of her completely.

As Sam moved to stand next to Teal'c a muttering once more arose from beneath the bed. "Rhe'u, Tok'ra, rhe'u. Rin'tel'noc."

Sam stopped and looked at Teal'c as Jack murmured, "He doesn't sound too happy."

"He can sense me, can't he, Teal'c?" Sam asked. "At least he can sense Jolinar."

"Indeed it appears Lord An can sense that you were once blended with the Tok'ra Jolinar of Malkshur. This could work in our favour, from his previous outburst I would have expected him to be...'colouring the heavens blue' however he is merely requesting that you leave. A rough translation would be 'Stay back, Tok'ra, stay back. Move away from me.'"

Sam nodded thoughtfully. "The expression's 'turning the air blue', Teal'c but as you say, my presence doesn't seem to be troubling him greatly. Shall we see what happens when I get nearer?"

Carefully she sat down on the floor and peered under the bed. An squeaked and slowly rocked his head back and forth as if trying to process some piece of information. Eventually the head movements stopped and the child spoke, "Tok'ra, na'noweia si'taia?"

Sam looked up at Teal'c who replied in the same quiet tone he had used earlier so as to not upset the boy. "He asks whether the Tok'ra are here to destroy him. I would deem this to be a logical question from a child prodigy of the Goa'uld, although one I had not previously considered. If the Tok'ra were to seek out and eliminate the favoured hosts of the System Lords it would surely upset things for them although a lot of innocent children would be culled in the process and the System Lords would simply take hosts from other planets as replacements."

"How do I say 'I'm not'?" Sam asked.

Teal'c quickly answered, "Kel'nok shree means 'I am not.'"

"Thanks, Teal'c," Sam replied before bending down to again. "Hey there little guy. Tal'mac Samantha. Kel'nok shree Tok'ra. Tak Tau'ri."

A look passed between Jack and Lou at the extra bits Sam had added to what Teal'c had told her. "Daniel," Jack mouthed and received an understanding nod in return from his comrade before both men returned their attention to the figures by the bed.

A very disjointed conversation then took place between Teal'c, Sam and Lord An. The boy spoke to Sam who looked to Teal'c for translations. She then told Teal'c what she wanted to say and falteringly repeated what he said to the child.

~#~

As she spoke more and more Goa'uld to Lord An, Sam found the pronunciations of the phrases coming to her naturally and found herself wondering if some of Jolinar's memories were being brought to the surface. Unfortunately, even after a lengthy discussion, Jolinar's knowledge of the Goa'uld language itself stayed buried so Sam remained unhappily dependent on Teal'c for the words themselves.

~#~

Eventually it became clear to everyone in the room, as well as Ferretti in the corridor, that Sam's charms were working on the boy. The child's words were flowing freely now, to the point where he was having to wait for Teal'c to catch up with the translations.

A long period of quiet followed where the boy was obviously mulling something over that had been said and Sam took the opportunity to sit up and stretch her back. The crouched position she had assumed while talking to the boy was doing nothing for her aching muscles and was certainly not helping the headache that had been developing since she'd been persuaded to get off the cot in the room where she had collapsed earlier.

As if he could read her thoughts, Jack stepped forwards and squatted down beside her. Upon hearing a squeak and a gentle thud from under the bed as the boy scuttled back against the wall he pressed a canteen of water and a couple of Tylenol into her hands and backed quickly away, resuming his previous position on the floor near the door. The fact that the youngster had moved as far as the middle of the bed gave Jack hope that he might eventually out on his own.

Sam downed the Tylenol with a large swig of the water and then rolled her shoulders, stretched her arms above her head and sighed loudly. A sudden idea struck her and she placed the unstoppered canteen of water on the floor, just underneath the cot. She shook it gently and then leant backwards, making a point of purposefully stretching the kinks out of her back and deliberately ignoring the water container.

Less than a minute later Sam heard a scuffling noise and silently she sat and watched as the canteen disappeared completely under the bed. She then heard water sloshing around and frantic guzzling sounds as the boy struggled to drink from the large container in such a confined space. After a while the frantic gulping slowed and eventually stopped and a loud thunk was heard before a tiny hand slid the canteen back to the spot where Sam had previously left it.

The tired woman reached down and picked up the container and then patted at the pockets of her vest. She failed to find what she was looking for and proceeded to reach her arm further and further out behind her until Jack leaned forwards and grasped her hand. "What do you need?" he asked softly.

"Power bar? Chocolate?" she replied. "Anything to eat,"

Jack raised an eyebrow at this but fished a powerbar out of one of his pockets. He could hear rummaging coming from behind him and was grateful when a slightly battered Hershey bar came skidding across the floor towards him. When he saw the bar Jack understood that Lou wasn't the only person in the corridor and that someone else was listening in on the happenings in the room. Lou would have had as few supplies of his own as Sam had and Jack realised that one of his own rescue team must have handed Lou the chocolate. Even though this was the opposite of what he'd ordered Jack couldn't make himself get upset. The fact that the fate of the boy was important to the battle-hardened soldiers of the SGC gave him a warm feeling inside and he knew that the boy would be equally well supported once he was finally delivered into Cheyenne Mountain.

"Thanks," he said quietly, directing his gratitude to both Lou and the unnamed person beyond him.

Lou nodded a reply to both Jack and the other man, in turn letting Jack know that his assumption had been correct about another presence in the corridor. Swiftly he turned his attentions back to Sam and handed her both the bars before leaning back against the wall and out of the way.

~#~

Sam immediately tore open the powerbar, ripped a small piece off it and placed it in the spot she had taken the canteen from. She then settled herself down again and quietly watched.

Gentle snuffling noises came from under the bed and, very soon after Sam had sat back down, the little hand reappeared. The boy's fingers felt around and eventually touched the slightly sticky piece of bar before quickly disappearing again. Sam leant down to peek at the boy and watched as he tentatively licked the stickiness from his fingertips. He obviously decided that the powerbar was safe to eat and Sam had to sit back up quickly as he suddenly reached forwards, grabbed the piece of bar and disappeared back against the wall once again. Sam replaced the piece of bar and again it was rapidly snatched away by the obviously hungry child.

Sam repeated the procedure a couple more times and each time the piece of powerbar disappeared within seconds of it being placed on the floor. After a few more times Sam began moving the morsel of food slightly further out from under the cot. Now there was a short pause while An reached out and felt for the piece of bar. Each time he reached one he grabbed it and wrapped his hand around it before dragging it back beneath the bed and eating it.

~#~

When a little over half the powerbar was gone Sam stopped replacing the pieces and shuffled backwards a little. She bit the end off the Hershey bar and sat there munching, cross-legged and facing the bed with the remaining chocolate in her lap. She clasped the bar firmly in her right hand so it couldn't be suddenly snatched away by little grabbing hands which would enable the boy to disappear back into his hideaway.

Jack held his breath as he waited to see if the chocolate would be enough to finally tempt the boy from his hiding place. There was a short pause where Sam sat and savoured the chocolate in her mouth before a sniffing noise was heard, followed by a rustle and the boy reached his unbound right hand as far out from beneath the bed as he could. Unfortunately for An, Sam had positioned herself just out of reach and try as he might he couldn't get to the chocolate while his body was still in hiding. Sam, Jack and Teal'c - who had, at some point, moved back against the bathroom door - caught a brief glimpse of the child's tousled head before he let out an anxious little whimper and moved back out of sight.

Sam looked over to Jack, distressed that she may have tried to push the boy too far too fast. Jack, knowing kids - and little boys in particular - better than Sam, gave her a reassuring smile and motioned for her to stay put.

Sure enough after another short while the three friends once again caught sight of the little boy's arm as he made another attempt to reach out to Sam and the chocolate. When that once again failed the arm was withdrawn only to reappear a moment later followed by a scruffy blonde head of hair and part of a gold-clad shoulder. An's left arm was still firmly somewhere on the underside of the bed and the boy oddly kept his head turned in that direction while he reached out blindly to Sam with his right hand.

Very carefully and almost painfully slowly Sam reached out her left hand towards the little grasping hand that was reaching out towards her. She put her first two fingers together and, with a feather-light touch, pressed them to the fingertips of An's right hand. She was relieved, if not a little shocked, when he instinctively grasped onto them.

The child's breathing hitched slightly as he realised what he'd done and he started to pull away. Sam cooed softly to him and he stopped pulling on his arm and lay still.

~#~

Thinking carefully about her next move, Sam carefully placed the chocolate bar on the floor beside her and leant towards the boy. Quickly he withdrew his bandaged hand from beneath the bed and threw it over his head, equivalently burying his face in his left armpit so it could not be seen. His breathing hitched again as he wriggled but he maintained the tight grasp that he had upon Sam's two fingers.

The Major slowly joined her right hand over her left and tenderly captured the boy's hand between her own. As she softly rubbed the tiny hand she found that the boy began to gasp on each inhale of breath, the noise did not seem like one of distress so Sam continued her gentle massage. The gasping changed to a panting sob, eventually becoming a quiet mewl, deep in the boy's throat and the youngster began to rhythmically grasp at his hair with the fingers of his left hand.

It was at this point that Sam noticed that she had tears rolling down her face. She looked over at Jack and saw that the Colonel had his left hand clamped tightly across his mouth and that he had his nose pinched tightly between his thumb and forefinger. With her own tear-filled vision she couldn't work out if he was attempting not to cry or if he was fighting the idea of going out, single-handedly hunting down Ba'al and tearing the System Lord limb from limb. 'Somehow,' Sam thought 'I think it's a combination of the two.'

~#~

Understanding that her, Jack and probably everyone else on the ship, were at the end of their tethers and that the situation needed resolving urgently Sam risked a gentle tug on the hand that she was caressing.

She was stunned when the little boy reacted to the tug by letting out a loud cry and rapidly dragging himself out from under the bed. He threw himself at Sam, ending up half in her lap and half on the floor with his face buried in the soft cotton covering her stomach. The quiet mewling noise he'd been making earlier broke into full blown sobs and he clung to Sam, keening loudly into her stomach. Sam did the only thing she could in the circumstances - she wrapped her arms, and her body, tightly around the distraught child and rocked him slowly back and forth.

She knew that Jack had sidled up beside her when she felt a gentle hand on the small of her back. She turned her face to him and found herself looking straight into Jack's moist, brown eyes. The compassion in those much-loved chocolate-coloured orbs proved to be Sam's undoing and she too broke down in tears. Jack gently pulled her towards him and lovingly wrapped his arms around her. Both her and the boy ended up clasped tightly in Jack's embrace and none of them noticed the door snick quietly shut when Teal'c silently left the room.


	63. Chapter 63

~#~ (Chapter 63)

It was almost half an hour later when Teal'c re-entered the room to find Jack, still on the floor but leaning against the second cot. The Colonel had a sleeping Sam cradled against his chest along with an equally dead to the world Lord An who was curled up, fast asleep in Sam's lap.

Jack was awake and alert as Teal'c came into the room and he watched as the large Jaffa silently strode up and smoothly crouched down beside him.

"Sorry T," he whispered. "I guess we've been here a while."

"Do not trouble yourself with that O'Neill," the Jaffa replied quietly. "I merely came to advise you that contact has been made with Master Bra'tac and the free Jaffa. Dal'nar and many of the others aboard this ship have arranged to rendezvous with them, in a neutral star system well away from the scrutiny of the System Lords."

Jack nodded, "That's great, Big Guy." He looked at his friend's countenance and frowned. "What or where's the but, T?"

Teal'c looked deep into the worried eyes of his silver haired friend before replying. "It would be inadvisable for these warriors to remain in the place where they have betrayed their God so badly and in order to both carry out such a meeting and remain safe this ship is required to relocate to another sector. All Jaffa upon this vessel would be eliminated immediately that knowledge of their treachery became known so the only safe course of action is for them to flee into those sectors of space that the System Lords do not rule, until the day comes when it is safe for them to return to their families."

"And I'm guessing they want to take the ship and go now?" Jack asked, still speaking in hushed tones even though is was becoming evident he was going to have to disturb Sam and the boy sooner rather than later.

Teal'c nodded slowly, "I am afraid so, O'Neill. Dal'nar has issued a warning that the vessel will be leaving orbit exactly..." he held out his arm to show Jack the time, "Twenty three minutes from now."

"Twenty three?" Jack queried, "That's...rather random isn't it?"

Teal'c looked almost shamefaced for a moment. "I apologise O'Neill. Dal'nar issued a warning of almost forty five minutes once I notified him that MajorCarter had secured the boy but I confess it took me many minutes to make my way back here to inform you of the news. I am having trouble traversing the corridors of the vessel as my council is continually being sought. I did however successfully converse with ColonelFerretti via the radio communicator and he enlightened me as to MajorCarter's resting state. He asked that she be allowed to continue her respite while I returned here and I saw no reason why he should not wait for a few more minutes longer before he disturbed you. As he had not done so by the time I returned it fell to me to fulfil the task."

Jack paused a moment while he digested Teal'c's somewhat wordy speech. Once he'd done so he nodded to his friend, "Go find Lou, T - while I wake up sleeping beauty here. She's no way up to 100% and even though she'll never admit it she's gonna need a hand to get off this bucket of bolts. I'll take the boy and Lou can help Sam."

As Teal'c opened his mouth to suggest that he was more than capable of helping Sam Jack cut him off. "Ah, no. Before you say it, we need you to lead the charge out of here. You're the only one who knows the way around and heck knows we're gonna be cutting it fine enough to get out of here before we end up Christ knows where. We need you running interference up front, Big Guy or we're never gonna make it."

Teal'c nodded. "As you wish, O'Neill. I shall summon ColonelFerretti forthwith." With that he stood up and briskly left the room.

~#~

Jack quickly turned his attention to Sam and tenderly kissed the top of her head while gently stroking the side of her face. "Sam honey, I'm so sorry," he whispered. "You've got to wake up, it's time to go home."

Sam muttered something to herself, not really waking up but now not so soundly asleep. She grasped tightly onto the material of Jack's T-shirt and tried to snuggle deeper in to his chest.

"Oy, now that's not the plan," Jack chuckled and gave her shoulders a gentle shake. "Up. Now Major Carter. Rise and shine."

As Sam lifted her head and dopily looked at him he chuckled again. "Hey there sleepyhead. You wanna go home?"

"Safe?" she asked groggily, wrapping her arm tightly around the still sleeping child on her lap.

"Both of you," Jack promised, not really knowing if Sam was asking about herself, Ferretti, the boy or just everyone in general. "Everyone's OK, just really tired and in need of some hot food and good old fashioned TLC."

Sam seemed happy with this answer and looked round as Lou banged the door open.

"Sorry about that, don't know my own strength," he joked. "You ready to get out of here, Sam? Jack, the Big Guy says you're gonna take the boy? That right?"

"I've got him, as long as you've got Sam," the silver haired Colonel replied. "Let's get this show on the road, shall we?"

~#~

Jack slid out from behind Sam and supported the boy while Lou helped her up. It was testament to her weakened state that Sam didn't once argue about being helped by the two men and both Jack and Lou picked up on the fact although neither man made a comment.

Once Lou had Sam moving towards the door Jack scooped up the boy. He carefully lay the child's head on his shoulder so that the sleeping face was buried in his neck and supported the youngster's bony little butt with the forearm of his right hand. The boy remained fast asleep through the whole transition and Jack took a moment to quickly check they'd not left anything behind in the room.

Saddened that that there was nothing in the room to show that a child had ever stayed there, Jack clasped the boy tightly and set off after his beloved fiancée, two of his best friends and a rag-tag group of the SGC's finest men.


	64. Chapter 64

~#~ (Chapter 64)

The strange party of six men, one woman, one Jaffa and one sleeping child travelled unhindered down oddly deserted corridors of the Ha'tak vessel until they reached the level that housed the ring transporter.

As they descended the ramp from the level above they found their way blocked by a great number of Jaffa warriors. Most of these, it seemed, were there to seek an audience with Teal'c and to ask his advice on many matters regarding the free Jaffa movement. Unfortunately being that Teal'c was leading the party it meant that everyone had to wait while he attempted to answer the many questions that his kinsmen had.

As they were stalled in the corridor a rumbling noise started up along with a vibration in the floor which everyone immediately realised was the engines being started. The Jaffa standing between the SG teams and the exit let out an excited clamouring and Teal'c was forced to stand at full height and bellow to make himself heard.

"Mid'cha my brothers, pay attention. This vessel is being prepared to take you to the Phaegas system. Once there you will be taken to a place of Kal mah, a place of sanctuary if you will, until further arrangements are made. It disturbs me greatly that I cannot accompany you at this time of great upheaval but I must aid my Tau'ri comrades with their appointed task to convey Lord An to a place of safety upon the First World."

There was an answering commotion among the uproar already in the room and Teal'c turned to Jack for help. Seeing that the Colonel had a now wide awake, terrified and fighting Lord An wriggling in his arms he not only knew that no help was coming from that direction but that an additional and unwanted complication had just befallen their situation.

"I implore you, fellow Jaffa. Move aside and let us disembark this vessel. The Chappa'ai awaits us below and we have only moments before our point of departure is lost to us for several days. It is obvious to me that the child would not survive many more days on this ship so for us to remain here with him is unacceptable."

The warriors still hesitated and the SG teams were shocked to see Teal'c cool calm exterior falter momentarily.

"MOVE ASIDE," he roared. "THIS INSTANT."

From standing behind Teal'c the effect for Sam, Jack and the others was incredible. Jaffa scattered in all directions in their haste to get out of the way. From young boys barely old enough to leave home to old men of Master Bra'tac's age each and every one of them moved aside, leaving a clear route straight through to the ring transporter room.

Teal'c strode down the now-clear corridor and was quickly followed by the others. As he entered the ring room directly after Teal'c, Reynolds radioed down to Major Pierce and his team to dial the gate and hold it open in preparation for the rescue teams to come through. He then positioned himself near the back of the rings which were in place on the floor and waited for the others to take their places.

Sergeants Summerville and Bell were next into the room followed by Major Griff and then Lou and Sam. The last pair waited to one side for Jack who was bringing up the rear with An fighting him every step of the way.

The boy had woken at some point during the dialogue between Teal'c and the other Jaffa and when he'd become aware of his surroundings he had found himself in the middle of a noisy crowd containing more Jaffa than he'd ever encountered. He was also being tightly held by someone he neither knew nor liked. The child had promptly panicked and tried to break loose from Jack's hold and the pair had been fighting ever since.

Jack slipped into the centre of the waiting ring and Sam, Lou and Teal'c stood in front of him. He thrust out his left arm and Teal'c punched the control button on the wristband that was concealed beneath the Colonel's jacket.

~#~

The rings descended in their usual fashion and quickly deposited everyone on the disturbed grass near the base of the Stargate steps.

Major Pierce and the rest of SG-15 descended on the rescue team and hurried them away from the rings. Lieutenant Croshaw received a nasty kick from the struggling boy in Jack's arms and after that the rest of the team gave him a wide berth. Unfortunately for Jack this left him restraining the child singlehandedly and the Colonel could have sworn that the youngster seemed to have gained slippery eel-like qualities, not to mention several extra arms and legs, since leaving ship. 'Charlie was never this hard to hold - was he?'

~#~

One after another everyone filed through the gate and as they trundled down the ramp onto the cold concrete floor of the SGC they were welcomed home by a smiling George Hammond. Pierce and Reynolds brought up the rear after Sam and Lou followed Jack through and the gate shut down behind them.

~#~

Jack, struggling with the writhing child, stumbled as he walked down the ramp. This changed the hold he had on the boy and he finally managed to dislodge Jack's grip just enough so that he was able to turn around in the Colonel's arms. Once he was facing away from Jack he pounded on the jacket covered arm with his tiny hands and then attempted to bite the thick cloth with his little milk teeth. When neither of these tactics had any effect the child paused and then thrashed out with his legs.

Jack hadn't noticed but the way the boy had squirmed had positioned his feet on a level with the Colonel's nether regions and the first kick of the youngster's left foot brought his heel into direct contact with the most sensitive area between the silver haired man's legs.

With a loud 'oomph' Jack doubled over in pain and reached out to the ramp support to steady himself. Unfortunately in doing so he loosened his grip on the boy who managed to free himself and drop to the floor.

Stunned to find himself free, An turned to head in the opposite direction to the one in which he was being taken and blindly tried to charge back towards the now-closed gate. A combination of weakness, lack of muscle tone and the Goa'uld robes he was wearing conspired to stop the boy and he tripped as he side-stepped around Jack. Lou snatched at him as he fell but, with a squeal, he managed to pull away from the Italian's grasp and made to continue blindly up the ramp.

Quickly Sam threw herself out from behind Lou and sank to her knees in front of the panicking child. The Major grabbed his hand, dragged him quickly into her chest and wrapped her arms tightly around him before he could escape again. As the boy sunk into her embrace he dissolved into hysterical sobs and Sam was left kneeling on the hard, unforgiving metal of the gate ramp, breathing heavily and cradling the now shaking child. As she scanned the room her eyes began droop and slowly she lowered her face until it was buried in the crook of the child's neck.

Lou sat down beside her and plastered a 'don't mess with me' expression on his face and Jack slowly sunk down onto the step he'd been doubled over on.

The three friends remained in these positions until Janet finally came to their rescue.


	65. Chapter 65

~#~ (Chapter 65)

The diminutive doctor pushed through the men at the bottom of the ramp and was grateful when General Hammond ordered that most of the returnees make their way to the infirmary for their post-mission checks. Their debriefs, he advised, would take place the next day. Teal'c silently took up his standard guarding position near the door while Pierce and Reynolds, who had stopped in front of the gate, sidled carefully past the three people sitting on the ramp. Quietly they made their way from the room, taking the rest of the SG's 3, 5 and 15 with them, along with the one remaining member of SG-2 in the form of a somewhat lost looking Sergeant Greg Bell.

As the room started to clear Janet took the two steps up to where Jack was now sitting, in obvious discomfort. He had one of his temples resting on one raised knee in front of him and his eyes were closed. The doctor crouched in front of the Colonel and then paused with her hand raised just in front of her. Touching Jack when he was unawares was a well-known faux pas and one which many an inexperienced infirmary nurse had fallen foul of in the past. Janet had no intention of being on the receiving end of the black ops Colonel's iron-hard fist so held back in a hope that Jack would acknowledge her in some way.

She needn't have worried as after only a few brief moments Jack raised his head from its spot and turned embarrassed, pain filled eyes her way. The doctor winced in sympathy and placed a comforting hand upon his shoulder but was unsurprised when he waved her away and pointed towards Sam and Lou a couple of steps higher up the ramp.

Janet looked past Jack, up at Lou and then past him to Sam. As she set eyes on the exhausted woman she knew that there was no way Sam would be capable of carrying herself, let alone the boy down to the infirmary unaided. Scanning the room the doctor was pleased to see that the number of people milling around had been greatly reduced and she quietly called for a gurney.

"I assume you two are going to be as stubborn as ever and insist on walking?" she asked, addressing the question to both Jack and Lou at the same time.

Upon receiving identical mulish looks from both Colonels Janet shook her head. "If either of you keel over on the way I'm knocking you out for forty eight hours," she said. "And don't think that's an idle threat. You both know I'll do it."

There was no chance for the men to respond as at that moment two male nurses appeared with Sam's gurney. One positioned the trolley at the base of the ramp and raised the head so Sam could sit up with her back supported. The other nurse moved up the side ready to hop over the barrier to end up on the other side of their patient. Jack motioned for both men to stop and, after a nod from Janet, they did. Lou then stood up, albeit shakily and helped Jack to his feet before the two tired friends helped the trembling Sam, complete with clinging child, down the ramp and onto the wheeled bed.

~#~

After Sam and An were settled on the gurney the two nurses quickly took charge and whisked the pair away into the bowels of Cheyenne Mountain, followed by Janet Fraiser and, at a slight distance behind her, Teal'c.

That left Jack, Lou, General Hammond and a random selection of SFs in the gate room. The two Colonels turned sad, pleading eyes towards the General who barely managed to suppress an amused snort when he saw two of his finest officers doing a fair impersonation of his granddaughter Kayla's Spaniel puppy. He capitulated immediately and ordered the pair to the infirmary where he'd 'come and find them later when the Doctor had finished with them.'

~#~

It took a while but eventually, side by side Jack and Lou entered the busy infirmary. The tired men felt like they'd been stopped and asked for updates by half of the SGC and Jack deposited Lou on one of the remaining free beds and ordered him to stay put until he'd been looked over. The Italian started to argue but when Jack promised to come back with regular updates on Sam's condition he gave up and lay back on the mattress with a sigh.

Once he turned away from Lou's bed Jack scanned the room. Colonel Reynolds was quietly talking to Major Peterson who was propped up in a bed at the far end of the room, a large white bandage marring the smooth skin on his chest. Major Templeton was in a similar condition in the next bed although he had no-one sitting at his bedside due to the fact that Major Griff was talking to Sergeant Nicholson who was sitting beside his team-mate Sergeant Peters who was in the bed next to Templeton's.

On the opposite side of the room lay the two Marines, Marshall and Emmett. Sergeant Marshall was obviously sedated as he was fast asleep even though the noise level in the room was quite high and Corporal Emmett was propped up speaking to a nurse who was checking him over. The Corporal was obviously still a little dazed and more than a little vexed at being continuously woken up but this was unfortunately essential in monitoring his mental function after the blow to his head.

Jack's gaze travelled slowly down the room. SG-15 were keeping out of the way until it was their turn to be examined by the nurses and were sitting two-per-bed near the door and someone, Jack presumed it was Greg Bell as he was the only other person unaccounted for, was being examined in the small curtained area just beyond them.

As he discovered that Sam was definitely nowhere to be seen he realised that he'd always known he wouldn't find Sam in the infirmary. There was no way Janet would have let any child sit in the infirmary when it was so busy, let alone a heavily traumatised child like Lord An. He also knew that in the state Sam had been in that Janet would have secreted her away somewhere in a private room. Janet had always complained about having to run a mixed sex ward but she was, more often than not, successful in keeping both genders of patient separate. Luckily because the women who actually travelled off-world were so grossly outnumbered by the men the infirmary had very few female patients - Sam unfortunately being one of the most frequent - and the wily doctor usually managed to find a private room somewhere in which to place the women.

~#~

He turned back to tell Lou that he was going to have to search elsewhere for Sam but he found that the other Colonel had fallen asleep almost as soon as he'd laid down. Jack felt suddenly guilty that he'd dragged Lou all over the Ha'tak and then dumped the care of Sam on the other Colonel while he was carrying the boy. He'd not really given much thought to the fact that Lou had been through mostly the same experience as Sam. His friend had done everything that Jack had asked without question or complaint and had kept going through it all running on adrenalin alone. His body had finally succumbed to the pull of sleep only once everyone was safe and sound back at the SGC and Jack had persuaded him to sit down on the bed.

Looking around he found there was no-one free to tend to Lou so carefully he removed the Italian's boots before pushing him further onto the bed and then grabbed a blanket from a nearby chair. He covered his gently-snoring friend with the thick woollen blanket and quietly wished him trouble free dreams.


	66. Chapter 66

~#~ (Chapter 66)

Favouring his aching groin Jack slowly wandered out of the infirmary and down the corridor that led to Janet's office and the isolation rooms. Being that he had only seen infirmary staff and not Janet herself in the room he'd just left he was betting that wherever Sam was he'd find Janet as well.

His supposition was quickly proved wrong when the pint-sized doctor came barrelling out of the door of Iso room 2 and bumped into him. As she stepped back she stumbled but Jack caught her before she followed her clipboard and went crashing to the floor.

"Oh, Colonel O'Neill. I'm so sorry," she said as she bent and retrieved her stationery from the floor. As she stood up she realised that she'd not shut the door fully behind her and quickly pulled it closed but not before Jack caught the sound of a wailing baby emanating from within.

"You starting a crèche down here, Doc? At least I'm assuming that's a littler littl'un than the one I brought back?"

"Er, yes, Colonel it is," Janet stuttered. "She's one of the Chamakan children that I'm keeping a close eye on. Most of them are on level seventeen awaiting the arrival of Ishta and the others but I feel the baby is too delicate to be taken through the gate again at the moment. I've enrolled Mollie Fountain as her primary care giver and she's doing OK. Most of the time she's a placid little thing."

Jack raised his eyebrows. "Well she doesn't sound all that placid at the moment, Janet, if you don't mind me saying so."

Janet shook her head and rolled her eyes. "No, Colonel, that's because I'm having to do regular heel prick tests to monitor her blood sugar. It's a little haywire at the moment 'cos she hasn't had anything like enough nutrition for the last few days. Thank God Sam managed to get some food down her when she did or things could be looking much worse."

"Ah," cried Jack. "That must be what Lou meant about kids on the planet. I really need to find out what went on down there, I'm kinda out of the loop at the moment."

"I think that after the last few days...well, I think 'the loop is out of the loop'," Janet replied, rather cryptically.

"Bad few days?" Jack asked.

Janet pursed her mouth and nodded before answering, "Yeah, you could say that. A bad few days." She shook herself and then looked up at Jack. "I take it you're looking for Sam and the boy?"

"I'm looking for Sam but unfortunately I think where she is the devil child will be as well," Jack replied with a mock shudder. "I'm pretty sure the boy doesn't want anything to do with me and I've got the God damn bruises to prove it. Ungrateful little shi..." Jack cut off as Janet slapped his arm. "Er...ship dwelling child...yeah, that's right. Ungrateful little ship dweller."

"Hmph," Janet replied with a hint of a grin on her face.

Jack knew he'd done his job well and temporarily brought the woman out of her stress-induced funk. "That's better. Now Sam and...monster boy?"

"This way, Colonel," Janet started walking down the corridor and away from Iso 1 and 2. Jack looked to his left and right at the Iso room doors and hurried after her. "Not an Iso room then?"

Janet shook her head. "Not an Iso room, no, Colonel, they were both full. Sam and the boy are in observation room 1. I'd've rather put the pair of them in an Iso room so they were nearer the infirmary but I couldn't. I'd already got the baby set up in Iso 2 and Sergeant Davies is still in Iso 1. He's in no fit state to be moved at the moment and he'll only be going to the Academy Hospital when he's finally up to travelling at all. It's going to be a long time before that man's ready to face the world again...I really hope he makes it but we'll just have to wait and see. Come on, I'll let you sit with Sam if you promise not to try and wake her up."

~#~

Before Janet allowed Jack in to see Sam she took him into the viewing area that overlooked the observation room. As they passed through the door Jack noticed the statuesque form of Teal'c standing silently off to one side of the room. The large man nodded his head slowly as Jack entered and then returned to his motionless vigil.

The lighting was subdued in the room below but as Jack looked down he could easily see the motionless shape of Sam on a hospital bed in the middle of the room. She was wearing the same black T-shirt that she'd come home in but was now sporting a neat bandage on her chin and her face and neck were free of blood and grime. She was lying on her right side in a loose foetal position, facing away from the door and was fast asleep with her arms still wrapped around the boy who was barely visible under the soft, warm blanket that the pair had been covered with. Sam's right hand, which could be seen cradling the boys still-dirty hair, had an IV tube filled with crimson blood was attached to it and another tube, this one with clear fluids, disappeared somewhere under the blanket heading towards the child's back. This, Jack assumed, lead to Sam's left hand.

"How's she...er...how are they doing, Doc?" Jack asked quietly.

Janet stood next to the much taller man and looked down into the room as she answered. "I can only tell you about Sam at the moment, Colonel. She's hypoglycaemic, dehydrated and is suffering from blood loss and exhaustion. It's nothing we haven't treated before and we've got to give the IVs time to do their job. As you can see, one is replacing her blood volume and the other is supplying her with electrolytes and fluids. I've given her a very mild sedative as she was a little restless but even in her sleep she won't release her hold on the boy."


	67. Chapter 67

~#~ (Chapter 67)

Jack gazed down at Sam with a sad smile on his face. "What about the boy? Have you managed to take a look at him at all? I mean, I'm no doctor but I know kids and he's not quite right. He's all head and no body and there's no way he weighs anywhere near enough for his size. Jan, there's nothing to him."

"No," Janet agreed. "It doesn't sound right but I've not managed to look him over yet. As I said, Sam's got a tight hold on him and after I saw how he was reacting in the gate room I thought it best not to try and force the issue and risk upsetting him again. I've felt his forehead and there's no fever, other than that I'm pretty sure he's been asleep since before he and Sam got off the ramp - either that or he's playing possum and keeping very quiet about it."

"He was hiding under a bed when we first found him," Jack murmured. "He was completely still and totally silent and I walked straight past him. I've no idea what made Reynolds look under the bed - the thought never crossed my mind." Jack huffed gently and shook his head. "And then I came along and scared the living crap out of him. I think I gave him the idea I was just gonna drag him out from under there whether he liked it or not. I doubt it made Sam's job any easier either."

"Jack," Janet placed one of her small hands on the Colonel's arm and squeezed gently. "Don't you start on the guilt trip. I know you too well, remember? I don't know everything that went on aboard that ship but one thing I'm certain of is that you didn't frighten him deliberately. You're great with kids - a natural - hell Jack, if he was fighting before you came through the gate like he was in the gate room most people wouldn't have even attempted to bring him through in their arms. They'd've either just dragged him through or been stuck there with him. That's not you though, is it Jack? You knew he'd not willingly follow you through the gate and there was no way any of you could have stayed on Chamaka. Quite frankly, Colonel, I can't see you ever dragging a child anywhere by one arm, even if it were for his own good - you got the job done in your own way and tried to offer a little comfort to the boy at the same time, even if he didn't appreciate it. Carrying the boy through was probably the quickest and most efficient way to get him back here, even if it ultimately meant some...discomfort for yourself."

Jack subconsciously wriggled his butt and rearranged himself as Janet said this. The doctor smiled as she saw his movements but knew that Jack wouldn't appreciate her pointing them out.

The Colonel looked over to her, placed one of his large hands over the dainty one she had resting on his arm and squeezed. "Thanks Jan, you always know just what to say."

"I try, Colonel O'Neill, Sir," Janet replied with a grin and a wink. "I really do try. Now, looking at the state of you I assume you've so far avoided your post mission exam?"

Jack shrugged, "Nah, I've not had it yet. The infirmary was busy when I dropped Lou off and SG-15 were still waiting too."

"OK," Janet said after a moment. "I tell you what. If you promise to behave you can sit with Sam until she wakes up and then I'll get you both checked out together. You've got to let her sleep as long as she needs though, Colonel, none of this waking her up to check she's OK nonsense that you're prone to. Do we have a deal?"

Jack nodded. "Deal. Just let me down there. I'll let her sleep. I hate the fact that she's so weak."

Janet tugged on his arm. "Don't worry Jack, she's going to be fine. You know as well as I do what exhaustion does to the human body, you've been there enough times yourself. Once the IVs are done and she wakes up she'll be much more back to normal. After that we'll take things as we find them, the same with the boy, we'll just play it by ear."

Janet then dragged Jack from the room, noting in passing that Teal'c had disappeared now that the Colonel was there to watch over Sam.

As they rounded the corner to Sam's room Jack accosted an airman and requested a laptop be brought to him so that he could start his mission report while he was sitting with Sam. Janet let him into the room and he made himself as comfortable as possible, dumping his vest, jacket and boots in the corner of the room and quickly washing his hands, face and neck in the adjoining bathroom.

When the laptop was delivered, along with a large styrofoam cup of coffee, he settled down to wait.

~#~

After she had Jack and his computer set up in the obs room she once again stressed to him just how important it was that Sam be allowed to sleep for as long as she needed. She then left to attend to the backlog of people in the infirmary, promising to return as soon as Jack called her to tell her that the Major was showing signs of stirring.

~#~

Janet snuck back in after a couple of hours to take Jack something to eat, to replace Sam's IV bags and to check that everything was still alright in the room. While she was there she was able to quietly give Jack a rundown of how everyone in the infirmary was doing and let him know that Lou was fast asleep but that he had been woken, changed, checked over and was now tucked properly into his bed.

It was several hours later that Sam first showed any signs of life. Jack had long since finished his report and was sitting in his chair with his feet resting on the bed. He had the laptop on his knee and was playing Patience when Sam tentatively lifted her left hand to rub her eyes. As she moved the IV line pulled at the skin on her hand and she looked blearily at it and slowly rolled onto her back with a confused look on her face.

The Colonel quickly put the laptop on the rollaway bed table beside him and jumped to his feet. "Hey you," he said softly, gently brushing the hair from around Sam's face with his fingertips and placing a kiss in the middle of her forehead. "How you feeling?"

"I...ooh," Sam croaked, cleared her throat and then tried again. "I feel...God, Jack can you find me something to drink?"

"Sorry, of course," Jack reached over and grabbed the pitcher of water from the bedside table. Carefully he poured a small amount into a glass, unwrapped a straw and put it into the water. He then placed the straw in Sam's mouth and allowed her to drink until the glass was empty.

"More?" she asked hopefully, sounding much more like herself now that her throat had some moisture in it.

Jack chuckled. "Not until Janet says so, no," he replied. "More than my life's worth if I make you sick and undo all her hard work. I promised to call as soon as you woke up, she'll tan my hide if I don't do it soon. Hang on, I'll be back in a mo."

Sam smiled. "Ya big coward," she said softly as he moved across the room to use the phone. She attempted to roll onto her left side to watch him but found the movement restricted by a weight on her right arm. Looking to her right she discovered that that her right arm disappeared under a small blonde head and that the fingers of her right hand were buried rather in a mop of dirty hair. Realising immediately who the child was but not entirely certain why he was in her bed she uncovered his face to find that he was apparently fast asleep.

As she pulled the covers down she noticed that his left hand, the one bound in olive coloured material, was curled tightly under his chin as if to protect it. His other hand had a firm hold on her grubby T-Shirt so she left it be.

In her lightly drugged slumber Sam had moved and clasped the boy tighter to herself and looking at him she felt that, even though he was obviously not complaining, he couldn't possibly be comfortable with his head in such a confined embrace. Carefully she reached her left hand behind him and supported his head while she untangled her right hand and accompanying IV line from his hair and moved it down to a more suitable position below his shoulder blades. She then gently readjusted his head so that it was resting near the top of her right arm and snuggled him closely to her once again.


	68. Chapter 68

~#~ (Chapter 68)

The adjustment meant that Sam was once again lying on her right side which forced Jack to walk around the bed so he could see her. Carefully he sat down just beyond the mound of covers that was Lord An, placed a hand on Sam's head and resumed the stroking of her hair that he'd been doing before he went to phone Janet.

"Doc'll be here in a couple of minutes," he told her, leaning over to steal a kiss before Janet came in. "How you doing?"

"Feeling somewhat more human now," she told him with a smile. "Bugged out there for a while I guess?"

"Something like that," he replied. "Jan say's you're gonna be fine though. You've had two bags of blood and one of...clear stuff. I think the watery one's got to stay but Janet said she'd get rid of the blood when you woke up."

"I can't have lost that much blood without knowing it," she argued. "From where?"

Jack lifted Sam's left hand and gently pressed it to the bandage on her neck.

"My chin? From Osiris's fingertip? But that was only a scratch."

"It was more than a scratch. Your T-shirt was coated in it remember? We had this discussion up on the ship." Jack was getting concerned by Sam's confusion.

"But I've been up and about since then. We got back here under our own steam, didn't we?" Maybe she wasn't as confused as Jack thought, maybe she hadn't completely woken up yet.

"Yeah but I think that was mainly 'cos of what we got inside you when we found both you and Lou," he explained. "I reckon that and a bit of an adrenalin rush kinda kept you going until you got home. Oh and the little power nap you had with this one here," Jack motioned towards the sleeping child.

Sam looked down and gently stroked the boy's messy hair. "But everyone's all alright now...right?"

"Everyone's alright now," Jack repeated. Lou's asleep and everyone else that needed to be has been patched up. Just you, me and the littl'un to be checked over." His gaze followed Sam's down to the sleeping child. "Kinda cute ain't he? In his own grubby way." Gently and as delicately as he could Jack pulled the blanket up that Sam had left around An's chest and brought it up over the boy's shoulders, tucking it down as much as he could without disturbing the child's sleep.

Sam smiled. Her fiancé, she knew, was a big softy under his gruff military exterior. His gentle, compassionate side came out when they were alone and it was 'her' Jack O'Neill that was currently sitting on the bed. "You weren't saying that a couple of hours ago," she pointed out quietly. "Not that I don't agree with you of course. I wonder where he came from...where he really belongs."

Jack shrugged. "I don't suppose we'll ever know," he replied sadly, gently stroking An's hair with the back of one finger. "Someone somewhere has lost this little chap, or more likely had him taken from them. I wonder how long they had him, how old he was when the Jaffa took him."

"If anyone can answer any of those sort of questions it'll be Janet," Sam said thoughtfully. "She's got herself a huge database of samples of soil, water, chemicals and air pollutants from most of the planets we've visited and last time I visited her she was raving on about the variety of different mineral combinations she'd found in them. She's also working on getting genetic profiles from as many of our allies as possible and she's using these to study the effects of different atmospheric and geological conditions on the human body. It's quite fascinating really, you wouldn't believe the subtle genetic changes that have happened to the transplanted Egyptians over the thousands of years that they've been on Abydos for example. Janet's theorised that it was partially because of these changes that Daniel and Sha're never managed to have children and yet Sha're was able to carry Shifu to term. She reckons that Amonet made some...modifications to Sha're's genetic makeup which cancelled out any potential incompatibility between her body and Apoph...what?"

Jack had raised an eyebrow at Sam's sudden rush of energy, now she'd woken up properly she was positively bouncy. "Feeling better are we?" he asked with a smile.

"Oh," Sam stopped to think. "Actually, yes. Feel like I could eat a horse though. Didn't you say Janet was on her way? I need to get this check-up out of the way and then I really need to eat!"

As she said this the unmistakable sound of Janet's high heeled shoes came tapping down the corridor. "Ah, speak of the devil," Jack whispered and gave Sam another quick kiss before sliding smoothly off the bed and pulling the door open to allow the doctor to enter.

~#~

Jack motioned with a finger against his lips that Janet needed to be quiet so the little doctor toed off her shoes as she came through the door. She made her way quickly around the bed and sat down in the spot that Jack had just left.

"Sam," she whispered. "God it's so good to see you awake. How are you feeling? You had the Colonel worried for a while and you know how he get's when he's worried! Do you realise he's actually sat in here for the past five hours or so without once trying to wake you up? Worried, I tell you!"

Sam smiled at Jack's mock-outraged growl. "I'm feeling much more myself, Jan. I'm just ravenously hungry. I would think this little one must be too." She rolled backwards slightly, uncovering the still apparently sleeping face of Lord An for Janet's inspection.

"I'd rather not wake him," Janet admitted. "He's obviously undernourished and that will have left him short on energy but after the day he's had I think sleep is probably the best thing for him. If he's still asleep in a couple of hours time then I might rethink that and try and get some fluids into him. Ideally I'd like to have him on an IV then I can monitor exactly what goes into him but I doubt he'd appreciate me waking him up to fix a big needle in his arm."

"Never stopped you in the past, Doc," Jack grumped quietly from behind Sam. "At least not with me anyway."

Sam smiled and buried her head in the boy's hair before Jack could notice.

Janet noticed her movement and plastered a straight face on before turning slightly on the bed so she was facing Jack. "Why, Colonel O'Neill. Are you saying I should treat you like a child? Or that I should single you out for special treatment? Whatever next? House calls to the Alpha Site?"

Jack cast his eyes round the room desperately trying to think of a witty comeback. After the worries of the past day or so his witticisms were a little thin on the ground.

"Might be nice," he shrugged. "Anyhoo, if you want to leave Little Orphan Annie here asleep how are we going to go about getting Sam checked out and fed?"

"Ah ha, I've thought about that," the little doctor replied. "If we're careful and can untangle him from Sam's T-shirt she can slip out and we can replace her with a pillow. I've done it myself with Cassie more than once when she's fallen asleep on me, they just need something to cling to for a bit of comfort. I'll get one of my nurses lined up to sit in here and have them page me when he wakes up. Good plan?"

"Good plan," Jack agreed. Sam nodded gently so as not to disturb the boy.


	69. Chapter 69

~#~ (Chapter 69)

Janet quickly slipped off the bed and went in search of another couple of pillows. She figured it couldn't hurt to put one behind the boy as a bolster to stop him rolling backwards and colliding with the bed rails.

When she returned she carefully placed one of the pillows behind the sleeping child and handed the other to Jack who was once again standing behind Sam.

He rested the pillow on Sam's uppermost hip, ready to slide it into place once Sam moved. He leaned over and touched his cheek to hers gently and whispered, "It's up to you, love. You OK?"

Sam turned her head slightly and rubbed it slowly up and down the stubble on Jack's face. "Hmm," she hummed contentedly. "I'm OK."

Jack stood back up to allow Sam more space to manoeuvre on the bed. Shifting backwards to give herself more room she started to carefully unpeel the little fingers from her T-shirt until she suddenly stopped. "Jack," she hissed, urgently.

"What's up?" came the whispered reply.

"Get me a washcloth or something. Something soft for him to hold."

Jack looked round, thinking and then rifled through his pockets and pulled out a large, clean handkerchief. "This do?" he asked, handing it to Sam.

"Great. Thanks," and with that Sam continued. She freed the little clutching hand from her T-shirt and successfully replaced it with Jack's handkerchief. She then supported the boy's arm as she scooted backwards away from him. This left a clear space for Jack to slip the pillow into and he did so quickly.

There was a brief moment of panic when Sam gently laid the boys hand down on the pillow. He let out a quiet squeak, low in his throat and muttered something unintelligible. The three adults in the room held their breaths but he quickly quietened before he finally wrapped his arm firmly around the pillow and burrowed into it.

Sam, Jack and Janet traded looks and let out the breaths they had been holding. The Colonel reached down, released the bedrail and helped Sam to the floor where she stood, wobbling for a moment as she wriggled her feet into her waiting moccasins. She made for an odd sight wearing a blood encrusted black T-shirt, scrub pants, moccasins and twin IV lines and Jack called her on it.

Only after he'd commented did Janet point out the scrub top that went with the pants, on the rollaway table, underneath Jack's laptop.

Sam waved her tube-laden hands at Janet and wiggled her fingers meaningfully. The doctor then turned, opened a cabinet and removed a couple of cotton wool balls and some surgical tape. "I take it you want these out then?" she asked Sam, tapping gently on the plastic plug in the back of Sam's right hand.

"I'll agree to take them both out for now but I'll check your levels before you go to bed and I'm warning you now that I'll be putting this one back," she tapped Sam's left hand this time. "...if I'm not happy with the numbers."

Sam nodded and held her hands out, palms down, towards Janet. The little doctor carefully pulled the needles out of both hands and pressed small balls of cotton wool against the oozing holes that they left behind. After a short time she rechecked the wounds and taped the cotton wool to the back of Sam's hands so she could go and change her clothes.

She shuffled over and grabbed the top while Jack clicked the bedrail back into place and Janet went to the door to summon the nurse who would sit with An while he slept.

Sam looked around as if trying to decide where to get changed and then decided that moving would be just too much hassle. Standing in the middle of the room she pulled off the filthy black T-shirt and flung it at the trashcan by the door. With a grimace she realised that her bra was also caked in blood and it took a small cough from Jack to stop her from just pulling that off as well.

She looked at him in confusion as to why he'd stopped her until he twitched his eyebrow and motioned with his eyes towards the observation area. She blushed, looked upwards and was pleased to find that there was no-one watching her impromptu striptease. In case anyone chose that moment to enter she turned to face the wall and shucked off the bra, which quickly followed the T-shirt into the trash, and uttered a contented groan as she pulled the fresh smelling scrub top over her head.

"Finally," she said, stretching luxuriously before turning and walking into Jack's waiting arms. She wrapped her arms around his chest hugged him tightly and buried her face into his neck. "Thank you," she mumbled. "Thank you, thank you, thank you."

Jack hugged Sam close to him and rubbed his hand firmly up and down her back. "No one gets left behind Sammy. O'Neill rule number one, remember." He felt rather than saw Sam's answering nod and gave her a gentle squeeze. "Now, I vaguely remember being propositioned by a rather pretty blonde. Air Force Major, I believe she said she was. I'm not sure but I think we may have even made a dinner date, although I think there was some strange condition attached that said we had to see a doctor first. Sounds rather kinky don't you think?"

Janet snorted from over by the door as Sam's blonde head popped up from it's hiding place and watched Jack thoughtfully.

"What if the Major suggested you make it a threesome?" Sam suggested. "Maybe you could invite the doctor as well. You know, mix things up a bit."

Jack kissed the end of Sam's nose. "Sounds like fun. How's about it, Doc? You up for lunch once you've finished with the pair of us?"

"Ooh, well, how could I resist such an offer?" Janet grinned. "You've twisted my arm, Colonel O'Neill but I'll warn you, us doctors have expensive tastes. Come on, the sooner I get you checked out the sooner we can eat."

Now that Sam was fully clothed Janet opened the door and allowed the nurse to enter, she directed him to the chair and quietly gave him some last minute instructions before stepping back past Jack and out into the hallway. Jack recognised the nurse as being one of the pair from the gate room earlier in the day and he nodded his acknowledgement to the tall blonde haired man.

He adjusted Sam's position so that he had one arm slung around her shoulders then he pulled her from the room. Sam pulled the door shut behind them but couldn't resist one last look at the boy as she did so. "He really is cute, isn't he?"

"He sure is," Jack replied, drawing her closer and kissing her temple. "Don't get too attached though. Remember Janet and her database? She's gonna work out where he came from and we're gonna send him home. If his own family can't take him back or, God forbid, they don't exist any more then at least he'll be with his own people. That's a good thing, isn't it?"

Sam dropped her eyes to the floor, determined that Jack wouldn't see her tearing up again. She'd done more crying in the last couple twenty four hours than she'd done in the last few months and she a mighty bit unhappy with that fact. The months before that...Sam shuddered, she wasn't even going to think any further back than that or she'd definitely start bawling. "Yeah," she said gruffly. "I guess it is." She stroked the hand that was resting on her shoulder, still not allowing Jack to see her face. "Can we go find Janet now? I really want to eat."

Even though he hadn't seen the proof Jack knew why Sam wouldn't meet his eye. The fact that the child had reached out and clung to Sam like a limpet had tugged on Jack's heartstrings and he'd not even been on the receiving end of the embrace. He knew she was getting attached to the boy even though she'd probably seen him at his worst and he braced himself for the fallout that was guaranteed to happen sometime in the very near future.


	70. Chapter 70

~#~ (Chapter 70)

Sam and Jack slowly followed Janet down to the infirmary. The doctor pointed towards a bed and immediately disappeared inside her office to check on some test results that she'd been waiting for. Jack pushed Sam gently down on the edge of the bed that Janet had pointed out and pulled her towards him. He stood by the bed with her head resting at the base of his chest.

He scanned the room for Lou but his feisty Italian friend was nowhere to be seen, in fact the infirmary was far quieter than it had been when Jack left it hours before. The two concussion patients, Sergeant Peters and Corporal Emmett, had obviously been discharged as they were nowhere to be seen and their beds had been remade. Majors Peterson and Templeton were still in their beds however. Both men were talking quietly with Sergeant Marshall who was propped up on crutches between their two beds. Jack wondered briefly whether the Sergeant was supposed to be up and about but figured that Janet would soon notice and send him back to bed if he wasn't so he left the men to their conversation.

Janet emerged from her office and Jack raised his eyebrows as she made way over to them with a smile on her face.

Sam's head popped up as she heard Janet's footsteps approach and she quickly looked around. Realising she'd been shamelessly snuggling into Jack's T-shirt the Major blushed and flipped around so the was sitting up on the bed with her knees pulled loosely up in front of her.

Janet knew how Sam always wanted to be thought of as strong and 'one of the boys' and the fact that she was snuggling up to Jack in public in the middle of the infirmary proved she was still feeling under the weather no matter what stoic front she was trying to put on. The doctor's smile widened as Sam carefully messed up the covers on the bed, trying to make it look like she'd been there all along. She pulled the privacy curtain along the far side of the bed and walked around to where Jack was standing.

The Colonel tugged at the bottom of his T-shirt to smooth out the wrinkles that Sam had left behind before acknowledging her. "Good news, Doc?" he asked brightly.

Janet grinned up at him. "That obvious?" she asked. At Jack's nod she continued, "It's just that the baby's readings seem to have stabilised. She's still going to need monitoring for next few days before she can leave but I have a feeling she's going to be fine."

"That's great news, Jan," Jack replied, "Isn't it Sam?"

Sam, Jack noticed was looking a little spacey again. "Sam? I said that's good news. The baby's going to be fine."

She shook her head as if to clear it and looked at Janet. "Did you find their parents? Will she be able to go back to her own family?"

Janet shook her head sadly. "No, that's the difficult thing. We had Mom for a couple of hours but unfortunately she didn't make it. She'd suffered some horrific injuries to one of her legs at some point and the wounds were badly infected. The two older children spent some time with her before she died but she wasn't really up to having the little ones bouncing all over her so they were kept away. There's no sign of Dad, he wasn't among the Chamakans brought back through the gate. At the moment we can only assume that he didn't make it either. I don't know where the baby's going to end up but her brother and the three girls have been kept together. They've gone with Ishta along with most of the other unclaimed youngsters but being that Noya was the only baby it's going to be harder to place her. Ishta's group have enough to cope with without the added complication of such a young baby and it's not like there's a long list of people here at the SGC wanting children. I would imagine she'll probably stay in ISO 2 until the General works out what to do with her. I'm guessing she might be moved into foster care and then with any luck she'll be adopted quite quickly after that. It's probably not PC to say but I can't see a little blonde haired, blue eyed baby being overlooked for adoption. I'm sure there's plenty of families out there waiting to snatch her up. She's the ideal age for adopting and she's a very placid, sweet child."

Jack looked over to Sam to find that she'd dropped her head and was staring at her knees, 'No,' Jack amended, 'that would be staring _through_ her knees, not at them'. "Sam. You OK," he asked quietly, placing a hand gently on her shoulder. "You're a hundred miles away again."

"Just thinkin'," she mumbled to her knees. "Being blonde haired and blue eyed didn't help Daniel get out of foster care did it?"

Jack's calm expression slipped slightly at the mention of his dead friend's name. He took a deep breath before answering, "No, but Danny wasn't six months old was he? He was also a severely traumatised boy genius who had watched his parents die. I'm sure it won't come to that anyway. The General just won't lose her into the system, you know he's not like that and...and, well, she's from off-world for Christ's sake. You know he'll do his damndest to find someone round here who wants to take her..." Jack stopped suddenly as Sam lifted her head and looked at him with a piercing expression. He met her eyes and opened his mouth to speak but quickly closed it again with a click.

He tried again but all he managed was a slightly squeaked "Oh..."

Jack jumped as the privacy curtain was pulled the rest of the way around the bed and Janet disappeared from view. "You and me?" he said quietly.

Sam nodded with an odd expression on her face. She tucked her knees up tighter to her chest and lowered her cheek to rest on them, all the while keeping her eyes locked with Jack's.

"I...oh...I kinda thought...hoped...after we were married...maybe..." Jack was struggling for words. Sam had never mentioned having children since their initial discussion when Jack had told her he was sterile. Jack himself had given up hope of being a father again long before Charlie died but in the six months since getting together with Sam he'd secretly started wishing that she might one day be ready to adopt - to carry on the O'Neill line, in name if not in blood.

"Would they let us?" she asked quietly. "Have her I mean?"

Jack shrugged and unpeeled one of Sam's hands from the grasp it had around the bottom of her leg. He entwined her delicate fingers between his calloused ones and then pulled the joined hands up and kissed the knuckle of Sam's middle finger. "I honestly don't know, love, I'd like to think we'd have a fighting chance. It's a bit sudden and you've had a bad couple of days though. I really think we need to wait a while before making any hard and fast decisions but if, after a few days, you're absolutely certain you want to go for it, then I'll talk to Hammond. It'd mean some big changes though."

"I know," Sam agreed. "It'd change everything." She paused for a moment and then giggled. "Jack, we don't even live on the same planet as one another."

Jack snorted. "True but that's probably one of the easier things to solve, it's about time the Air Force actually let me retire. I was thinking more about how hard Lou'd kick my ass if you put in for adoptive leave!"

"He wouldn't be surprised, we kind of...spoke down on the planet before..." Sam shuddered and pulled Jack's hand towards herself as if it would offer her some protection. "...before...well anyway he wouldn't be surprised and he wouldn't dare try it on. You could whoop his butt any day and he knows it."

Jack puffed his chest out and polished the knuckles of his free hand which brought the smile back to Sam's face.

"To be truthful I don't think I'd want to go through the gate if I had kids at home. I wouldn't want to risk leaving them without a mother. Noya's already lost one Mom, it wouldn't be fair on her...and...and you'd be stuck raising a baby on your own..." Sam kept tugging on Jack's fingers as she spoke and he could feel her shaking through their interlinked hands.

"Sam," he said urgently. "Sam stop. Nothing needs to be decided now, we don't even know if we can have her yet. You're still not back to full strength, that much is clear and you've used up what little energy you had with all this heavy thinking and you're going all shocky on me again. It's completely unnecessary at the moment and worrying about things that may never happen isn't gonna do anybody any good. Why do you think Janet wants you back here tonight? We need to get her back in here, get ourselves checked out, eat something and then you need to sleep some more.

Sam opened her mouth and Jack knew she was going to object. He gently placed a finger over her lips to stop her. "Aht, no you don't. You know it yourself that if you don't stop and do those things, in that order, then you're going to crash again. Janet's already threatened you with another IV tonight and seeing you at the moment I don't think that'd be a bad thing. Now, I'll make you a deal - you let me go get Janet and when she lets us both out of here I'll treat you both to lunch like I promised earlier. After that you two can come back here, Janet can hit you with the happy juice and you can go bye-bye's for a couple of hours. When you wake up, then and only then you can go and visit the baby. In the mean time, while you're snoozing, I'll go and chat up Hammond and put out some feelers. Agreed?"

Sam looked bashfully up at him. She was feeling weak and somewhat feeble and she knew Jack knew it too. "Agreed," she said quietly. "Go get Janet."


	71. Chapter 71

~#~ (Chapter 71)

Janet quickly checked over and cleared both Jack and Sam on the condition that the Major stayed on the base for at least another twenty four hours and return to the infirmary before settling in for the night. The doctor had some reservations about Sam's state of mind, the newly acquired tendency to burst into tears at the least provocation being so completely out of character, but she assured both Jack and Sam that, in body at least, the Major would be mostly recovered after a couple of good meals and a full night's sleep.

~#~

The three friends made their way slowly to the commissary and commandeered a table near the back wall where it was relatively quiet. Jack sent Janet up to collect her food while he mother-henned Sam into one of the hard, green plastic seats. Once the doctor returned the Colonel insisted on going up to collect food for both Sam and himself.

When he returned with two trays he found the two women facing each other across the table, deep in a discussion about geographical profiles and isotopic composition analyses. He sat down next to Sam, slid a tray of food in front of her and was gratified to see her automatically start tucking in. He tried to listen to the conversation for a while but found that his mind kept wandering back to the bombshell Sam had dropped on him in the infirmary. Was it really possible that he was going to be a father again? To an 'alien' baby who he'd never met? He knew he shouldn't get his hopes up but he realised that Sam had set her heart on taking the girl home. Even though she was, quite frankly, a mess at the moment, she'd had that look in her eyes. It was a look of grim determination, a look that said nothing was going to change her mind. It was a look that said she was smitten and God help anyone who got in her way.

Jack pondered some more but eventually started talking himself in circles and that's when worries started to push their way into his thoughts. Was Hammond still on site? How the heck was he going to start 'that' conversation with him?...'alien' baby...What if the General had already sorted out living arrangements for the child?...A baby who he'd never met?...How would that affect Sam? How would it affect _him_?...An 'alien' baby who he'd never met?...What were they thinking?...never met?...Where would that leave their relationship? Now that Sam had set her heart on kids would she leave him for someone who could give her biological children of her own?

The colour drained from Jack's face. "No," he shouted and slammed his fist down on the tabletop as he sprang to his feet and sent his chair crashing to the floor behind him. He stood there panting as if he were a new recruit who'd just completed a rigorous training exercise.

His dinner companions jumped and stared up at him. Both automatically reached for him; Janet due to the atrocious colour Jack had suddenly turned and Sam in worry over his sudden outburst.

A young airman from a nearby table quickly flipped the chair back onto it's feet and, deciding that he wasn't going to risk further upsetting an already upset Jack, placed it back behind the Colonel before silently turning back to his meal.

Jack flinched as the two women grabbed him. "I...I...I need to see her," he stuttered. "The ba...er...Hammond, I need to see Hammond."

He wrenched himself free from both Janet and Sam and stormed out of the commissary.

"What was that?" Janet asked, a wrinkle of concern marring her forehead.

Sam looked at the tabletop thoughtfully for a moment before relaying to Janet the rest of the conversation that she'd not been party to after leaving Sam and Jack to talk in the infirmary.

"You know Jack," she said quietly. "He pretends he's stupid but really there's a hell of a lot going on in that noggin of his."

Janet nodded. "No doubt talking about children has brought up...bad memories," she said sadly.

Sam bowed her head and stared at the table, "Yeah and knowing Jack he's worried that he'll make the same mistake again with another child. I know that'll always be a fear for him. What happened to Charlie was an accident...a terrible, tragic accident but Jack just can't see it like that. In his mind he killed Charlie as sure as if he'd pulled the trigger himself." She stopped and suddenly looked straight at Janet. "Oh God, Jan, what have I done? It wasn't fair of me to suggest it, was it? I just didn't think. I've always assumed that he'd want kids if he got the chance, he's so good with them. I never thought...Should I even be telling you any of this? I mean we haven't even spoken to the General yet."

"Sam, you know you can talk to me about anything, as your doctor or your friend, either way, nothing you say goes any further." She grinned suddenly, "Even the General can't overrule me on that one. Now shall we go track down your wayward fiancé? If nothing else then I think there's a little lady he needs to meet."

~#~

Jack had left the commissary with no clear destination in mind and had ended up kicking open the door to the bathroom down the corridor and marching inside. Once there he had placed a balled up fist on either side of a sink and stood there, with his head down, breathing heavily. Slowly he turned on one of the faucets and splashed cold water onto his face until his cheeks stung then he looked and caught sight of himself in the mirror. His short silvering hair was sticking up in all directions and his cheeks were glowing and he had water splashed down his T-shirt. In short, he was a mess.

He gradually calmed down as his fight-or-flight burst of adrenalin left him and suddenly he felt deflated. He knew he owed Sam an apology and Janet was probably due one too. God, some days he hated emotions and feelings and...stuff.

Jack wet his hands again and run his fingers through his hair, trying to put it back into some sort of order. He then grabbed a handful of paper towels, dried his face and blotted a lot of the water out of his T-shirt with the screwed up tissue.

~#~

Once he was sure he was as presentable as he was going to get, Jack stepped back into the corridor. As luck would have it Sam and Janet chose that moment to step out of the commissary.

"Jack," Sam called, successfully catching his attention as she approached him.

The Colonel held his arms out and the Major walked into them to be enveloped in a Jack-special bear-hug.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled into her shoulder. "I was thinking too much and my brain went into meltdown. Forgive an old Colonel?"

"Nothing to forgive you for," Sam replied, squeezing his chest tightly. "It's me who should be apologising. I should have thought about your feelings before...before I suggested anything. We can..." She paused, not really wanting to say what needed to be said. "...We can forget it. Forget I ever said anything...if...if that's what you want but I really, truly thought you would jump at the chance of us having a family."

Jack shook his head and sniffed and Sam wondered for a moment if he was crying. A moment later he raised his head from her neck and she saw that his eyes were moist but that the tears were, for the time being, contained.

Cupping her chin in his hand Jack held her head so she couldn't turn away and met her gaze. "You would as well, wouldn't you? You'd really give her up for me?"

Sam nodded as much as his grip on her chin allowed. "Yes," she replied simply.

"Yes and you'd resent me for it for the rest of your days," he said sadly, "and that's not what I want. Sam, deep down you have to know I would give you kids if I could, really I would. I wish I could, more than anything in the world, but I can't."

At this point Jack lost control of his tear ducts and Sam quickly pushed him back inside the bathroom, suddenly noticing that they were having an extremely private conversation in a very public corridor. Strangely enough there were very few people around and Sam briefly wondered if a certain diminutive doctor might have something to do with that.

"Damn it," Jack choked out as he yanked his T-shirt out of his pants and scrubbed his eyes with it. "This...seeing you with the boy...and then the baby idea, it's all happened a bit fast, that's all. It's not been the best few days, you know? They told me that something'd happened but wouldn't tell me what and I wasn't allowed to contact Earth to find out. Then eventually I found out that you and Lou were missing and I spent the next few days worried that I was never going to see you again or that we were gonna be too late and that you'd be dead when we found you. Then you...you were covered in blood and could hardly stand up..."

Sam was mortified. She knew Jack kept all his emotions bottled up inside but it was very rare that they came bubbling to the surface like they were doing now. It had happened several times in the months after Daniel's death and before that when Daniel had ascended. Now Sam came to think about it, the only times she'd seen Jack's emotional flood barriers fail were Daniel-related, neither she nor Teal'c had given Jack any real cause to break down. And then it hit her. She was the only 'family' Jack had left in the world. If something happened to SG-2 then Jack's entire family unit could be wiped out in just a few brief seconds, along with his two closest friends. They had come close on Chamaka, too damn close.

With tears rolling down her face she threw her arms around Jack, trapping his arms inside the bottom of his T-shirt. "I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry. I didn't understand before. I'll leave the team. I'll leave it today and never go through that damn gate without you again. If you don't want kids then I'll live with that. I just want us to be together."

Jack managed to free his hands and hugged Sam as tight as he could. "We'll fine-tune the details when we're both calmer but Sam, you need to understand one thing - I do want kids. I want the baby, I want the second chance..hell, I want to be a stay-at-home Dad. I'm just so God damn scared of messing it up again. I couldn't survive another Charlie."

Sam hugged him tighter than she thought possible. "I know, I know. I wouldn't want to either but you can't think like that. Don't you think Charlie would want you to have the chance of happiness again? Fate took away his chance of ever having a little brother or sister and then a terrible accident took him away from you. Charlie would want you to be happy, Jack. He'd want you to have your second chance, he'd want you to rise above the fear. He'd want you to embrace life however you damn well please."

Jack sniffed and wiped his eyes with the heel of his thumb. "Yeah," he croaked. "Yeah, he would. Fate turned those kids out into the forest but maybe...just maybe, Charlie lead you to find them."

"It was planned?" Sam wiped her eyes on the bottom of Jack's T-shirt before smoothing it down and tucking it back into his pants. "...all along you mean? And Charlie sent me to find the baby?"

"Why not?" Jack asked quietly.

"Why not indeed," Sam replied as she reached up and kissed Jack gently on the lips.

"We gonna do it then?" Jack asked. "We're gonna ask Hammond if we can take the baby? We're really gonna go for it?"

"Really, really," she replied. "And we'll tell our daughter all about her big brother Charlie and how he helped Teal'c and I find her."

Jack snorted. "You need practice. That should be the story of how Charlie helped her _Mommy_ and her _Uncle Murray_ to rescue her."

"Mommy," Sam rolled the word around on her tongue. "Mommy...hmm, that sounds good," she said dreamily.

"Really good," Jack agreed. He reached behind him and turned on the faucet. "We are both a complete mess and Janet's gonna kick our butts if we don't come out of here soon. Wash up Mom and we can go visit the baby before bed. I know I said 'not until tomorrow' but I don't think either of us really wants to wait, now do we?"

Sam grinned and shook her head. 'Soppy sod,' she thought to herself. 'He's just a big, strong, ball of mush at heart.'

~#~

The two of them tidied up as much as they could before Jack grabbed Sam's right hand in his left and they stepped from the bathroom - a uniformed front of two against the world.

Both of them knew that Janet would fight their corner every step of the way and that there was a good chance that they would get baby Noya...just as long as Hammond hadn't made previous arrangements...


	72. Chapter 72

~#~ (Chapter 72)

Niko Isaksson wasn't sure what to do with himself. The tall, blonde nurse had been sitting in the observation room watching Lord An sleep for nearly two hours and the boy had not so much as twitched in the whole time he'd been there. Niko had brought a little paperwork in with him to do but he'd finished that within about half an hour and had been twiddling his thumbs ever since.

Niko knew that An had been asleep for almost seven hours and as a father of three boys himself this worried him. He and his wife thought themselves lucky if their children slept for that long in their beds during a normal, quiet night, let alone in the middle of a busy, rather noisy, Air Force base. He'd had strict instructions not to wake the boy and to page Doctor Fraiser the moment An awoke but the father in him screamed that he should wake the boy, if only to take him to the bathroom to let the little tyke relieve himself before he wet the bed. Niko knew he thought this mainly due to an ongoing problem with his middle son, Mika, who at seven years old still wet the bed almost every night. Looking at the boy though he thought that An looked closer in age to Mika's little brother Tommi who was a little over four and a half years old and completely dry both day and night. Seven hours still sounded too long to go without a bathroom break though, surely even Tommi would have been up by now...

The nurse only knew a little history on the boy - that An had been found on a Ha'tak vessel and that he'd been saved by Colonel O'Neill and his team when they had gone aboard the ship to rescue Colonel Ferretti and Major Carter. He didn't know how the child had been treated on the ship but by the grubby state of his hands, hair and what little clothing could be seen above the covers, Niko guessed that the treatment couldn't have been good. The Finnish nurse wondered if there were any child-sized clothes on the base and made a mental note that he had a change of clothes for both Tommi and Mika in his car if there wasn't. His wife loved shopping and all the boys had more clothes than they could possibly wear and he knew that Mirja would be more than willing to rustle up a whole wardrobe of clothes for this little lost child if she had the chance. Niko shook his head and smiled to himself - most of them would probably still have the labels on as well!

The tall man stretched languorously in his chair. Orders were orders though and he'd been told that the child was not to be woken. Whatever happened he would be there when An woke up. If that meant the bed needed changing then Niko would deal with that as and when it happened...if not then so much the better.

~#~

Neither Sam nor Lou had been in a fit enough state to be debriefed immediately after arrival at the SGC and seeing that Jack had been concerned about both them and his bruised groin, Hammond had let everyone leave pending a lengthy debriefing session the next day.

Unfortunately for both An and Niko no-one had thought about the language issue. The only people who had heard the boy speaking normally, in the language of the Goa'uld, were Teal'c, Jack, Sam, Lou Ferretti and Colonel Reynolds. Other than those five, the other members of the rescue team had only heard him screeching at Jack or chuntering quietly to himself under the bed. Similarly, Janet and those present in the gate room on their return to Earth had seen An shriek and yell hysterically but as they'd heard no actual words it hadn't crossed their minds to query whether the child could actually speak English.

Most of the people they met spoke English in some form. Secondary to English came many variants of Egyptian, thirdly came variations of ancient Greek, followed by Latin and way down near the bottom of the list came the Goa'uld language itself.

Most of the SG teams contained a couple of people who'd been trained to recognise and speak at least the basics of ancient Egyptian, Greek and Latin. Many Air Force personnel had also been taught how to recognise the different languages when they'd changed or merged over the course of the millennia that the people had been separated from Earth. The training course had been started by Daniel about six months before he died, after SG-8 were lucky to escape with their lives after a misunderstanding between their commanding officer and the leader of the native tribe on P4E-394.

After his death "Doctor Daniel Jackson's Training Course for Linguistic Variations" had been continued by Nyan. The Bedrosian, it turned out, had an aptitude for languages and had quickly moved on from being 'archeo/linguistic departmental research assistant' to being Doctor Jackson's personal aide and had taken on much of Daniel's work after his mentor had been lost on P7X-962. It was only logical that he take over the training course as well because, as an off-worlder himself, he could easily understand the frustration of the language barrier from both the SG-teams' and the native villagers' points of view.

~#~

None of this unfortunately helped Niko when An woke up - very suddenly. One moment the boy was sound asleep clutching the pillow to himself, the next he was in a crumpled heap on the floor after panicking and flipping his little body backwards and over both the pillow and the bedrail behind him.

The nurse jumped out of his chair and hurried around the bed, worried that An had seriously injured himself as he hadn't cried out as he'd hit the floor.

As he rounded the bed Niko found that the boy had raised himself to his knees and was clinging tightly on to the base of the bed with his left hand. The child was panting heavily, his eyes were screwed tightly shut and his right hand was held out in front of him as if to hold back an unseen enemy.

The large man slowed his movements but deliberately made his footfalls noisy so that An would know he was there even though his eyes were closed. He squatted down a little way from the boy, giving him ample personal space and quietly spoke to him. "Hello there my little friend," he said softly. "Are you alright? Did you hurt yourself?"

An waved his hand around in front of him, trying to locate the large Finn. _"Who are you? Where am I? You are not Jaffa. Where is the Tok'ra female Samantha?"_ he screeched.

Niko didn't flinch at the volume. Being used to the tantrums that little boys threw every now and then had it's uses occasionally. This was apparently one of those times. What threw the nurse was the fact that he could only understand three words that had come out of the boy's mouth. Those, not helpfully, being 'Jaffa', 'Tok'ra' and 'Samantha'. The word 'Samantha' was self explanatory, especially as An had gone to sleep cuddled up to the soft, warm body of Major Carter and woken up on a strange bed with only a pillow for company. The 'Tok'ra' and 'Jaffa' references could mean all manner of things depending on what the words around them were saying.

Despite the fact that An still had his eyes closed, a detail that seemed somewhat odd to Niko, the nurse tried again. "Hey, hey, I'm not here to hurt you," he said. He then tried the usual tried and tested questions that any nurse or doctor would ask a trauma patient after a lengthy period of unresponsiveness, "Do you know where you are? Can you tell me your name."

When the English failed to get a positive response the Finn tried out his native language, after that he tried French and then finally a little German that he'd remembered from school.

Each time Niko stopped and waited for a response An would repeat the same two sentences, _"Where am I? Where is the Tok'ra Samantha."_ He was still speaking in Goa'uld and was getting more agitated and his breathing more erratic as time went on and he failed to successfully communicate with the unknown person in the room.

When it became apparent that none of the languages he knew were going to work Niko resorted to "shh shh" and then gave up completely. There was nothing he alone could do to calm the child and it was obvious from An's posture that reaching out and touching the boy would be the wrong thing to do. Had it been one of his own lads he would have wrapped him in a hug until the child calmed down but Niko realised this boy wasn't like one of his own, this was a child of unknown origin who'd been through who-knew-what in his short life.

Niko stood up, walked to the door and went to ask for help.

~#~

As the nurse stuck his head out of the door he spotted Nyan heading towards him near the bottom of the corridor and hailed him. "Doctor Bedrosan," he called loudly.

Nyan stopped walking and looked around in surprise. Very few people called him 'doctor' and even fewer used the surname he'd been given upon settling on Earth. Daniel had come up with the name as a way of Nyan holding onto his 'foreign' heritage while still being able to fit into the 'good 'ol US of A'. The linguist had always been proud of the fact that he'd found a single solitary phone book entry for Bedrosan, proving that it was actually used as a surname while being so uncommon that no-one was ever likely to try and trace Nyan for any genealogical research.

The softly spoken Bedrosian looked up and down the corridor, trying to work out who had shouted him and finally spotted Niko as the Finn waved to attract his attention.

Nyan then walked to the door of the observation room and stopped in front of the nurse. "Can I help you Nurse Isaksson?" he asked politely. "You are looking after the child brought back from the Chamakan Ha'tak vessel, are you not? Do you want me to fetch Doctor Fraiser for you?"

"No," Niko said quickly, grabbing Nyan's arm before the linguist could scuttle off to find Janet. "A linguist is exactly what I need. The boy's awake and scared and doesn't seem to understand a word I'm saying to him. I'm pretty sure he's asking for Major Carter as he keeps saying Samantha over and over again, along with a load of stuff I don't understand but that includes the words 'Tok'ra' and 'Jaffa'. I've tried talking to him but I think I may have just ended up frightening him more than anything else."

Niko stopped and looked back into the room behind himself, squatting down so he could see beneath the bed. Satisfied that An was exactly where he'd left him the nurse stood back up and continued. "Please, could you talk to him? Maybe try and keep him calm? I'm going to have Doctor Fraiser paged so she can come and see him now he's awake. She's going to need to talk to him when she arrives so please, can you stay for a while?"

"Of course," Nyan replied. "I will stay for as long as I am needed. Where is the boy?"

Niko turned and squatted down again. "There," he said quietly, pointing under the bed to where An was sitting quietly on the floor. Nyan squatted beside the nurse and followed his gaze. The boy had his head turned to one side as if he was listening and the two men had the distinct impression that he knew exactly where they were even though his eyes were still tightly closed.


	73. Chapter 73

~#~ (Chapter 73)

Nyan slowly walked into the room and around the side of the bed. This was the first time he'd seen the boy but his heart went out to him immediately.

When Niko had flagged him down in the corridor he'd been returning from a short briefing that Teal'c had been attending with General Hammond. The General had deemed that the linguist be present when Teal'c debriefed in case the SGC had to send a team to help Bra'tac with the reintegration of the newly freed Jaffa warriors. In the course of the briefing Teal'c had explained a little of what both Dal'nar and An had told him of the boy's history and how his training had been started and then abandoned once his disability had become apparent. It was immediately obvious to both Nyan and the General that Teal'c was struggling over the use of the word 'disability' and, when pressed, the large warrior had admitted that the Jaffa term more commonly used was 'defect'. When he'd seen Jack's reaction to the word earlier that day Teal'c had realised that it was an unacceptable description and had therefore sought out a more politically correct phrase to cover what he was trying to convey. He also explained that An had been condemned to death on the order of Lord Ba'al himself but that several of the Jaffa had taken pity on the child and had hidden him on the Ha'tak vessel in the hopes that they would find someone willing to take him in. This plan had been somewhat scuppered when it was discovered that Osiris planned to take the vessel to Chamaka and set up base there. The boy had already been secreted away in the Jaffa quarters in the ship and it had been too dangerous to try and relocate him once the preparations to move the ship had been started. He had, therefore, been in the Jaffa quarters ever since and fed and watered as often as possible. Unfortunately between the shifts that the Jaffa had to do and the chores they were forced to carry out this wasn't as frequently as a growing boy required and he had apparently he had started to lose condition at an alarming rate. Had the SGC not intervened when they did, Teal'c stated, then it was highly likely that the boy would have been dead within the next couple of weeks, no matter what anyone had tried to do about it.

An was sitting on the floor exactly where Niko had left him. His arm was clutching the underside of his bed and his face was turned to the left and buried in the folds of material around his shoulder. His legs were tangled in his Goa'uld robes and the linguist wondered briefly if the boy could actually get up off the floor at all or if his impractical clothing was forcing him to remain in his seated position on the cold, hard floor of the observation room.

Nyan sat down cross-legged a little way in front of An and paused, unsure how to continue.

The Bedrosian needn't have worried though. As he sat there working out what he should say the boy turned his head towards him and held out his right hand as if to check that Nyan wasn't too close to him. Once he was safe in the knowledge that his personal space was not being impinged upon he dropped his hand back into his lap.

_"You are different,"_ he said quietly, in the guttural language of the Goa'uld.

The language issue didn't even cross Nyan's mind and he replied, also in Goa'uld. _"Yes. My name is Nyan. Nurse Isaksson asked me for help. He could not understand what you were saying. Will you talk with me instead?"_

_"Why? Why have you taken me back from the Tok'ra Samantha? Are you here to kill me? I know my fate. I am defective and destined to die...this I have known for as long as I can remember. Why do the Goa'uld continue to keep me alive when they despise me so? Why couldn't I remain with the Tok'ra? Where is Samantha? Have you killed her? Why kill her and save me?" _An's screwed up eyes were leaking and the boy had tears rolling down his face.

Nyan was stunned. He didn't have much experience with children but he was certain the complexity of the language that An was using was not normal. An wasn't speaking like a child, he was speaking way, way beyond his years and Nyan felt that if the child would only open his eyes then he'd see that they were old beyond their years too. It was something that had always been said about Daniel - that the death of his parents had forced him to grow up very suddenly at the age of eight - and that because of it his eyes were those of a much older person.

Words like 'defective', 'destined' and 'despise' were advanced adult words, not child-speak and Nyan wondered whether the Goa'uld training had forced this boy into a much higher stage of development than would normally be possible for his age.

_"Samantha is very much alive," he tried to assure the boy. "She is exhausted and a little weak from her ordeal but she will be fine. She is with her..." he paused as he fought for the best word to use "...she is with her beloved. He is the one who saved you both on the ship. The one who brought you here."_

An pursed his lips as he thought over what Nyan had told him._ "Samantha was also held on the Ha'tak vessel? I do not believe you. I would have sensed her presence before, I am certain of that. I knew when Osiris passed too close to my location but I did not sense a Tok'ra presence until she sat before me."_

_"Maybe that's because Major Car...Samantha is not a Tok'ra any more." _Nyan struggled to explain, he'd read all the mission reports from the early years of the Stargate mission but the medical jargon used in this particular report had been very confusing._ "Jolinar, her symbiote, passed away within her body and it is that which you are sensing. Maybe because the symbiote is no longer present it means that you cannot sense Samantha from as close as you could sense Osiris?"_

_"I suppose that is possible," An agreed. "I cannot sense her at present." _The boy thought for a moment._ "Her beloved, he is the one who smells of weapons fire, wood smoke and something I cannot identify? The one who forced me through the Chappa'ai?"_

Nyan thought for a moment. _"I could not tell you what he smelt like but yes, he is the one who carried you through the Stargate. Stargate, that is what we here on Earth call the Chappa'ai. Colonel O'Neill is Samantha's life-mate and he was called to rescue her when she was captured onboard Osiris's ship. While they were there the Jaffa Dal'nar informed another member of his team, the Jaffa Teal'c, who you have spoken to, about yourself. When Teal'c explained your situation to Colonel O'Neill he pledged to find you and bring you back here with them. He refused to leave you on the ship."_

The boy was quiet for a while and Nyan let him be while he processed the information that the linguist had just given him.

Eventually the boy uncurled his left hand from it's hold on the bed and held it out towards Nyan, flexing the fingers as he did so. Nyan, not entirely sure he was doing the right thing, took that as an invite and carefully reached out the fingertips of his left hand. He wriggled his fingers between the bindings of material wrapped around it and rested them against the palm of An's tiny hand. The boy, remembering the comfort that he'd taken in Sam's arms earlier, grasped his fingers with a breathy squeak and tried to pull Nyan towards him.

The Bedrosian untangled his crossed legs and leant forwards. _"Here,"_ he said and he reached his right hand around the base of the boy's back and lifted him into his lap. The boy put up no resistance against the change of location but refused to let go of Nyan's left hand even when he was settled in the linguists lap.

The boy buried his face in the material of Nyan's T-shirt and sighed. _"You smell safe,"_ he said quietly. _"You smell of sand and parchment and...and home."_

The linguist didn't know how to respond to that so simply wrapped his right arm around the boy's thin shoulders and hugged him close.


	74. Chapter 74

~#~ (Chapter 74)

Janet had spoken at length to Lou Ferretti before sending him home. The Colonel had told her how good Sam had been with the baby and how he thought he'd put his foot in it when he'd told the Major it was a good look for her. He'd also told Janet how he'd then discussed his kids' adoption with Sam and how he truly believed that Sam hadn't considered the possibility before that point.

Doctor patient confidentiality aside, Lou had known Jack for many years, far longer than Janet and she knew that Lou was fully aware of Jack's 'problem.' She'd also been told of Sam's affinity with the child by Sergeant Fernandez who'd brought Noya back through the gate to Earth. She'd told the feisty Italian that the General had been 'quietly requested' not to put too much effort into his mission to re-home the baby but to give Janet a few days more days with her. It had only been after she'd left the General, Janet had told Lou, that she realised the Texan probably thought that she herself was looking to take Noya home. That's what had happened to the last orphaned child who'd passed through the doors of the infirmary after all. Janet had taken Cassie under her wing, into her heart and then into her home.

The doctor explained that she'd left the General to his assumptions but knew that she'd done the right thing when Sam had stopped Jack in his tracks with a stare as he'd been talking about the General finding a new home for Noya. Janet had told Lou that she hadn't stuck around for the ensuing discussion and hadn't mentioned it to the pair afterwards but in their eyes it was obvious some heavy-duty thinking had been going on.

After the suddenly aborted meal in the commissary Janet had firmly planted herself by the door of the bathroom and had remained there keeping everyone out of the way until Jack and Sam eventually emerged. It was obvious to the little doctor that her two friends had been through some sort of emotional catharsis in the bathroom - both had obviously been crying but were doing their best to hold it together for the sake of appearances.

She'd taken them to visit Noya but made them promise that they'd not stay too long before retiring for a nap. Sam was still not up to full strength and it was apparent to the doctor that Jack had reached the end of his emotional tether as well. She knew the sort of thoughts, memories and worries the baby discussion would be bringing up in the Jack's head and made a point to keep just as close an eye on the Colonel as she was on his fiancée.

She had stayed in Iso 2 with them for a short while, happily watching the tired lines and pained expressions fade from her friends' faces as they interacted with the baby. She had then returned to the infirmary, leaving the pair under the watchful eye of Mollie Fountain.

It was not long afterwards that she was paged to the observation room.

~#~

Janet rushed hurriedly down the corridor, hoping that she'd chosen right in assigning Nurse Isaksson to the boy. She knew the Finn and his wife well, they had three boys and An probably fitted somewhere in age between their two youngest children.

As she approached the observation room she had a moment of panic though. The door was ajar and she could see the blonde head of Niko Isaksson through the gap. The nurse appeared to be a standing sentinel behind the door and a murmured conversation could be heard from further inside the room.

~#~

Slowly Janet pushed the door open, knocking quietly as she did so that Niko knew to step out of the way as the door swung inwards towards him.

The doctor closed the door to behind herself, stood next to her nurse and looked in confusion towards the empty, unmade bed. Niko pointed to a space beyond the bed and Janet found that, if she stood on tiptoe, she could make out that there was someone sitting on the floor behind the bed. She could just see the top of a man's head topped with short brown hair and as she listened to the quiet discussion going on she realised that the breathy tones she could hear could only belong to Nyan.

Raising an eyebrow Janet turned to Niko for an explanation. The tall man motioned towards the door with his head and the doctor nodded her assent.

The pair stepped out into the corridor and walked up the stairs to the viewing gallery where they could talk in relative privacy.

When they got there they looked down and found that An was now sitting in Nyan's lap and that the Bedrosian was rocking him slightly back and forth.

"Oh, thank God," Niko said quietly.

"Would you mind explaining exactly why I left you looking after one small boy and I come back to find you standing by as he's being comforted by the acting head of our anthropology department?"

"He couldn't understand me," Niko said simply. "And I couldn't understand him. He woke up, panicked and fell off the bed. Nothing I said calmed him and he was starting to hyperventilate. I did the only thing I could think of and went for help. I didn't go far though, Doctor Bedrosan was just outside. I would've called you straight away but the boy was distraught."

Janet placed a hand on Niko's arm. "It's OK, I understand. You did the right thing and it looks like Nyan's coping alright anyway."

As she said this Nyan reached out and grabbed the bed with his left hand while still holding An with his right. Carefully the linguist lifted himself from the floor before dragging the blanket from the bed and heading for the bathroom with the boy.

"Uh oh," Janet whispered. "I think we're needed."

~#~

By the time Janet and Niko re-entered the observation room the bathroom door was tightly closed. Running water could be heard behind the door, along with the worried pleadings of a small boy and the quiet soothing tones of the adult who was helping him.

The nurse automatically moved to change the linen on the bed, noting that although it was grubby from both Sam and An being placed in it in dirty clothes, it was dry. Presumably the accident that Niko had been waiting for had happened once the boy had left the bed. He hoped that Nyan wouldn't be too mad at being peed on by an alien child - it wasn't really in his job description after all.

Janet moved to the bathroom door, knocked gently and quietly called out to let Nyan know she was there. The linguist called out that they were alright but asked that Janet 'please find the something for the boy to wear.'

Looking round the doctor realised in dismay that the only clothing in the room would dwarf the small boy but as scrubs were all she had to hand so they would have to do. It was an issue that had come up time and time again over the years that the SGC had been running and every time Janet had to clothe a child in oversized scrubs she threatened to start a clothing collection for the various waifs and strays that passed through her infirmary. Each time she had gone to start collecting something or the other had transpired to stop her and therefore the great idea had stalled at the planning stage.

Janet shook her head. 'This time,' she promised herself, 'this time nothing's gonna stop me starting my collection.'

She grabbed an extra-small scrub top and knocked on the bathroom door again. "Nyan, I've left a scrub top by the door, it's not ideal but I'm afraid it's the best I can do for now. Do you need anything for yourself?"

When the answer came back negative the doctor knew all she could do was wait. Wait until Nyan brought the boy back into the room, wait and see if he would let her examine him and wait to see if she could work out where he really belonged. She was loath to barge in on them even though, as the boys doctor, she had every right to do so. An had obviously placed his trust in the softly spoken linguist and she didn't want to risk upsetting that trust. Other than Nyan the only person who the boy had allowed near him in the short time he'd been on Earth and, from the sketchy details that Janet had picked up in the infirmary, since he'd been found aboard the Ha'tak vessel, was Sam. Sam who was emotionally and physically drained and in need of a full night's sleep in the arms of the man who loved her more than anything in the Universe. She certainly didn't need the stress of caring for an unhappy and uncommunicative little boy who had just awoken from seven straight hours of sleep...


	75. Chapter 75

~#~ (Chapter 75)

When Janet realised that Niko had finished with the bed she sent him back to the infirmary, asking him to pop into Iso 2 on the way past and kick both Sam and Jack out if they were still there.

A couple of minutes after the Finn had left the room the bathroom door snicked open and the scrub top disappeared through the gap. Following that there was a space of time where Janet could just hear muffled conversation and at one point a loud sneeze followed, very surprisingly, by a high pitched giggle that definitely didn't come from Nyan.

The giggle wasn't repeated but the murmured dialogue continued almost non-stop until, about ten minutes later, the door opened and a somewhat dishevelled looking Nyan stepped out with the now clean and scrub-clad An clasped tightly in his arms. The boy had a towel draped over his head, covering his hair and as Nyan headed out of the room he pulled the towel down over his face.

_"Hey,"_ Nyan said quietly, trying to pull the towel back up again but not succeeding because An had a tight hold on the bottom of it. _"I thought we had an agreement. Have you forgotten what I told you? No-one here is going to hurt you just because you cannot see. We are not like that here, remember? Nobody will be offended by your presence just because your eyes are inoperative. Doctor Janet is a nice lady and if you let her take a look you might even find that she is able to do something to help you. She cannot do that while you are buried in the towel though. At the moment she cannot even see what colour your hair is, let alone what your eyes look like."_

There was a mumbled response from An before the boy slowly released his death grip on the towel and allowed Nyan to pull it back up so it was, once again, just covering his hair. The linguist thought about removing the towel altogether but decided against it. The boy seemed to like having the material there as if it offered him some security against the world outside of his vision impaired bubble.

_"There,"_ Nyan said softly, tucking a rogue piece of An's damp hair back under the towel._ "Now, are you ready?"_

An took a deep breath and nodded. Having recently experienced the tender ministrations of two people, who had neither hurt him nor shouted at him, he discovered that company was something he might just want more of. The comfort of Nyan's arms, and Sam's before that, screamed safety to the boy. He tightened the hold that his right hand had on the back of the linguist's T-shirt and leant close to his ear. _"Do not let them send you away,"_ he whispered frantically. _"They made Samantha go away and I do not want to be alone any more. Do not let them make you go."_

Nyan cuddled the boy close. _"I will stay with you. I promise I will. I will also see what I can do about getting Samantha to come and visit you as well although from what I have heard that might not be possible until tomorrow. Does that sound fair?"_

Another nod was the only reply Nyan got as the boy slid his head down from the linguist's shoulder and rested it against his chest. His left hand, still wrapped in the now-somewhat-damp olive coloured material, was once again curled under his chin.

~#~

Nyan slowly crossed the distance between the bathroom door and the bed where Doctor Fraiser was quietly waiting for them. Janet hadn't understood the words flowing between the linguist and the boy but she'd picked up on the worry in both the boy's voice and his body language. So as not to risk upsetting him she moved back slightly as Nyan carefully slid himself onto the bed and arranged the child so that he was sitting sideways in his lap.

_"Doctor Janet really needs to take a look at you now," _he told the child,all too aware that the boy's right hand had clutched onto his when he'd changed the child's position. _"Is that alright?"_

The towel covered head nodded slowly and Nyan motioned for Janet to move forward.

"Hello An," she said quietly. "My name's Janet. I know this place seems very big and frightening at the moment but I hope, in time, we can be friends. Would you like that?"

Janet stopped and waited while Nyan translated. As she watched, a frown formed on the boy's brow and he turned his face towards Nyan and asked what was obviously a question. Nyan looked momentarily flustered and then nodded his head. He immediately realised that An couldn't see him so then answered verbally and snuggled the child closer into himself.

"What was that?" Janet asked after a moment.

Nyan turned sad eyes on the doctor. "He said he didn't think he'd ever had friends before," the linguist explained. "He wanted...he wanted to know if I was his friend and I said yes."

"What? He's only a child. He shouldn't need to work out if he's had friends before. Surely there were other children being 'trained' with him. There weren't were there? Otherwise Jack'd've brought them back too. It doesn't make sense that he was the only one," Janet exclaimed and then stopped and looked at him in horror. "Oh God, you don't think the Goa'uld have had him since he was born do you? I know Colonel O'Neill in particular is expecting me to work out what planet this little one originated on so we can try and track down his parents and send him home. If he was taken from his native people when he was newly born then the isotopic readings will be all mixed up and I won't stand a chance of working out where he truly belongs." The harassed doctor ran a hand through her hair before continuing. "Thank God that Ishta was able to take in all but one of the Chamakan children. It's bad enough that we've got the baby here to find a new home for but at least she'll be relatively easy to place. This one...God Nyan, he can't even speak an Earth based language. He'd have to be sent off-world but...but how could we expect someone to take on a...a special needs child who's been trained by the enemies of the entire galaxy?"

An, not understanding what was being said but picking up on Janet's agitation, wriggled to his knees and flung his arms around Nyan's chest. As he moved the towel slid off his head and fell to the bed in a heap. Nyan was treated to a face full of soft blonde hair as An blindly buried his face in the Bedrosian's neck.

Janet's tirade stopped dead the instant An moved. She knew she'd been venting her frustrations on the wrong people but had been unable to stop herself until the fact that she'd frightened the boy shocked her into silence. Over the past few days she'd been under incredible strain looking after poor Mickey Davies, been worried over the fact that her best friend was missing behind enemy lines and had to arrange twenty four hour care for a sickly baby. She and her team had then had the unenviable task of sorting through the Chamakan casualties and dealing with the fatalities that inevitably followed. After a busy night she'd only managed a brief catnap before the infirmary had once again been filled with the walking wounded, this time of SG's 2, 3 and 5 along with the thankfully-unwounded-but-still-in-need-of-attention SG-15. More and more things had been piling up on the little doctor and no-one had noticed that she hadn't been home in over forty eight hours. Janet herself knew that she'd not be able to leave for at least another twenty four and then only if she managed to avoid being embroiled in the midst of some other crisis at that time.

She sunk into the chair beside the bed and dropped her head into her hands which left Nyan stranded on the bed with An clinging to his neck like a big, blonde leech.

The Bedrosian wrapped his right arm around the boy, slid from the bed and crouched in front of Janet. He placed his left arm on her shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze.

"Doctor Fraiser," he said quietly. "Do you need me to call somebody?"

"No, you don't have to. I'll be fine," Janet announced as her head popped back up out of her hands. "Just...give me a moment."

Nyan was surprised to see that her eyes were dry. He'd assumed that the doctor had dissolved into tears when she'd dropped into the chair but apparently she was just tapping into yet another of the endless reserves of power that all doctors, fire-fighters and stubborn Air Force Colonels seemed to possess.

~#~

As Nyan stood back up and went about getting himself and An settled back on the bed Janet went to the bathroom to wash her face and calm down some more. As she dried herself on a paper towel she found herself looking around the room. An's robes were piled near to the drain in the corner of the shower, along with a very soggy towel and Janet made a mental note to call and tell the janitors that the room needed a thorough going over once the boy had been placed in a more child-friendly VIP room elsewhere within the confines of the SGC.

As she turned to open the door Janet spotted the blanket that Nyan had taken off the bed when he'd first carried An into the bathroom. Guessing there was a reason why the Bedrosian hadn't wrapped the child in it she went to pick it up, only to find that Nyan's loafers were on the floor underneath it. The doctor hadn't realised that the linguist had come out of the room in his socks but knew he'd need his shoes before he left the observation room. She quickly dumped the blanket in the dirty linen repository, picked up the shoes and left the bathroom.


	76. Chapter 76

~#~ (Chapter 76)

When the doctor re-entered the main observation room she found that Nyan had raised the head of the bed as far as he could and was sitting up with several pillows propped behind him. He had managed to prise An off his neck, had placed him back on his lap and was carefully helping the child to drink a glass of water.

The Bedrosian lifted his head as the doctor approached. "Feeling better?" he asked.

Janet blushed. "Sorry," she replied. "I guess I needed a good rant. I shouldn't have taken it out on you and the boy though, that was very unprofessional of me. I hope I didn't scare him too much."

"Don't worry, I don't think someone here has worked out just what's normal around here yet," Nyan pointed out, turning his attention back to An and his drink. "I've explained that you've been worried about Major Carter and that because of that you've not been sleeping well. He seemed to accept that. Actually it worries me just how easily he seems to accept...well...everything. He's a little boy. I know he can't see so he's hardly going to just get up and go running around the room but his lack of vision wouldn't stop him fiddling with anything he got his hands on. Surely he should be doing more than just placidly sitting on my knee like this.."

Realising that An had drained the glass, Nyan placed it on the table beside the bed. The boy looked briefly disappointed but then settled back into the linguist's lap without saying a word.

"See?" Nyan said quickly. "That's exactly what I mean."

Janet pursed her lips and nodded. "Maybe he just doesn't feel up to trying to move around, or maybe he's been trained not to. He's obviously aware that he's in a different environment to usual and that he doesn't know where anything is that he might collide with if he did try and walk anywhere. He's certainly more than capable of moving if the mood takes him, by all accounts he tried to make it back through the gate when they'd first arrived. After Colonel O'Neill...er...dropped him he managed to evade Colonel Ferretti and was starting to run back up the ramp when Sam grabbed him."

"Yes, so I have heard," the linguist agreed. "Since he woke up though he has been very...peaceable."

Janet looked down at the boy. "I don't suppose we've got any way of knowing just what's going on in that little head at the moment. We'll just have to wait and see what happens once he's properly fed, watered and a bit more acclimatised to life here at the SGC. I'll get some protein enriched drinks sent down here for him and I'd like to see him eat at least a little solid food as well. Do you think...if I promise not to flip out this time...that we can start again so I can take a proper look at him?"

The doctor used the phone to order the protein drinks and food for the boy while Nyan explained things to the child. An became positively animated when he found that he would be getting fed after the testing and Nyan thought he might have finally caught a glimpse of what the child could have been like had he been loved and cared for properly throughout his short life.

~#~

Janet carried out the same routine tests that all SG teams had to submit to when returning from a mission, with the exception of the MRI scan which was not possible without leaving the observation room. However there was a portable ultrasound unit in the room and Janet used this to check the integrity of An's spine, thereby ruling out the possibility that there was an undetected Goa'uld symbiote hiding near the base of his neck. She assumed this was a pointless exercise and pointed that out to Nyan but it was standard protocol that all people who had been off-world were scanned for Goa'uld invasion however unlikely the chance was of anything being found.

There was just no way any Goa'uld would have left its host in such a poor condition if it'd had any other options. If there was a symbiote residing in the boy it had been presented with two prime candidates for implantation in the past twelve hours but had apparently ignored both of them. Sam was no longer thought to be a potential host since her fateful joining with Jolinar but Janet had still scanned her, along with Jack, only a short while before and found both of them to be Goa'uld-free. That only left Nyan as a contender but unless the symbiote had taken him silently, painlessly and extremely quickly that wasn't really a possibility. The Bedrosian hadn't been alone with the child apart from the brief time that it had taken Janet and Niko to walk between the observation room, the viewing room and back to the observation room again.

As she wiped the conductive gel from An's back a cold sweat overcame Janet. She moved quickly backwards, away from the bed, looked straight at Nyan and froze.

"Doctor Fraiser, what is the matter?" the linguist asked, worried that Janet was going to 'flip out' again, as she had described it. The Bedrosian frowned as he grabbed a wad of tissue and finished cleaning up An's back. He pulled the child's scrub top back down and settled the boy back against his chest. Only once An was settled and comfortable did he look at the doctor with a questioning expression on his face.

"Bathroom," Janet spluttered and pointed towards the door. "You were alone...in the bathroom with him...with the door closed."

"Yes," Nyan said simply, now looking more puzzled than worried. "He needed a proper wash...he needed a shower. You don't think he was humiliated enough that he passed water in his clothes? That he had to ask a stranger for help? There was no way I was going to embarrass him more by cleaning him up in full view of the security team, now was I? I closed the door to keep the warmth in and the cameras out and to...to give him some sort of privacy. Why was that wrong?"

"Yes...er...no..." Janet spluttered. Had Daniel been tutoring Nyan in the art of martyrdom before he'd died? What was it with linguists and a lack of common sense where their own personal safety was concerned? "I mean, you weren't wrong in looking out for him but you...you...Nyan, you could be a Goa'uld."

Nyan's eyes went wide. "Janet, no. I...I didn't...I'm not a Goa'uld. Look.." The Bedrosian shuffled round on the bed and, with difficulty seeing as he was still holding An, pulled his T-shirt down exposing the nape of his neck. Once he'd done that he opened his mouth and waited as Janet moved forwards and pointed her ever-present penlight down his throat. He then sat back against the pillow looking somewhat harassed and waited for Janet to speak.

"Nyan I'm sorry," she said eventually. "I'm sorry. I hadn't thought of it before. Nurse Isaksson was in here as well and I hadn't thought of that either but I've just realised that none of you...not Sam, nor Jack, nor you or Niko. None of you could have been Goa'ulded. Do you know why?"

Nyan was past confused by now and just let Janet run with a shake of his head.

"Because this little one's alright," she said, pointing down to where An was snuggled into Nyan's T-shirt. "If he'd had a Goa'uld inside him at any point, even one who had for whatever reason been unwilling, or unable, to fix him, then he wouldn't be sitting here to tell the tale once it had forced its way back out of his neck. We know that all symbiotes cause damage on the way in, even the Tok'ra and they do it carefully. The thing is that the symbiote starts repairing the damage almost immediately, even as it's still blending with the new host. On the way out..." Janet shuddered and wrapped her arms around herself. "...on the way out the host wouldn't have those extra healing powers. With the tissue and arterial damage that would surely occur as the symbiote removed itself from the human body I'd guess that an abandoned host would be brain dead within seconds and completely dead not much longer after that."

Nyan looked horrified. The gentle man was a pacifist at heart and had neither agreed with, nor taken part in the wars on his home planet. He'd spent his whole adult life in pursuit of the evidence that would prove, once and for all, that either the Bedrosians or the Optricans were right in their beliefs. As a young man Nyan had truly believed that a discovery like the one he was searching for would create peace across his world. Ironically, once he'd actually discovered the truth which should have ended all war on his planet, his own people conspired to cover it up and this had ultimately lead to Nyan's very sudden departure from everyone and everything that he'd ever known. He wrapped his arms tightly around An and drew his legs up so that the boy was sandwiched between them and his chest. An didn't seem to mind the change of position and snuggled down with a loud sigh and a contented wriggle.

Janet clamped her hands over her mouth. "You didn't want to know that, did you?" she said. "I'm sorry, that's a definite case of the doctor in me talking before my common sense shut me up. Thank God this one can't understand me. I'm really sorry, Nyan. I don't know what's up with me today, I think I left my bedside manner somewhere out in the corridor."

A sad smile showed on Nyan's face and he relaxed his grip on the boy a little.

"I'm going to shut up now," Janet told him. "...and get on with this exam. OK?"

The linguist nodded. "OK," he agreed.

~#~

An was fascinated by his heartbeat when Janet placed her stethoscope earpieces on him but baulked when the doctor insisted that she look in his eyes. He relented eventually when Nyan had reminded him that if Janet couldn't look in his eyes then there was no way of knowing if she could do anything to repair them.

The doctor took out her notorious penlight and asked Nyan to support An's head while she examined his eyes. Nyan could feel the boy trembling as he held him and kept up a murmured litany of nonsense in his ear in an attempt to keep him relatively calm. Janet leant forward and shone her light straight into the centre of the boy's right eye but An didn't twitch. This in itself confirmed to Nyan that the child could see nothing at all - through his right eye at the least. The Bedrosian had been on the receiving end of Janet's infamous light several times before so he knew how unpleasant and painful the experience could be. The doctor put the light to the inside corner of the eye before switching it on again, drawing it across the middle to the outer edge and then reversing the move. Next she scanned the light from the top to the bottom of the eye and then back up again. Apart from the now-considerably-reduced trembling An didn't move a muscle in the whole time she was running her appraisals. He was similarly lacking in reaction to the matching tests of his left eye and by the time Janet straightened and unkinked her back she looked very thoughtful.

When Nyan released his head An realised that Janet had finished looking at his eyes and leant his head back until it was resting on Nyan's shoulder. He spoke quietly to the linguist who turned and questioned Janet on An's behalf.

"Doctor Fraiser?" he asked. "He wants to know if there is anything you can do that would enable him to see. I'm afraid I may have inadvertently raised you onto a pedestal when I used the fact that you might be able to 'fix him' as a reason for him to let you look at his eyes. What should I tell him?"

Janet ran a hand through her hair and met the linguist's earnest gaze. "Oh Nyan, I really couldn't say at the moment. All I know for definite is that his blindness is complete and that he shows no reaction of any kind to visual stimulation. I have a theory but I stress to you that it _is only _a theory because the human visual system is way outside my field of expertise. I need an ophthalmologist to take a look at him before I say more. If I'm right and I really, really hope I am then I think there's a good chance that we could get him at least a reasonable amount of vision. I don't want to tell him that though 'cos if I'm wrong it will devastate him."

The doctor leant down again so she was on the same level as the boy and spoke directly to him, knowing that Nyan would translate for her. "An," she said, waiting until she'd got his attention before continuing. "An, sweetie, I know you want me to say that I can magically fix your eyes and make you see but at the moment I can't. I need to talk to some people in the morning and when I do they'll probably want to come and take a look at you. Once they've done their tests they'll decide if something can be done. So I need you to be a brave boy for a few more days. I promise I'll contact the specialists first thing in the morning and I'll keep hassling people until I get someone to look at you."

Nyan relayed all this to An and the boy seemed to stare at Janet for a long while before he retreated to the safety of Nyan's neck with tears on his face.

The doctor backed away to give Nyan the chance to calm An down again. She moved around to the table where Nyan had left the water jug and poured a little into An's glass before walking back round the bed and handing the glass to Nyan. She hoped the water would act as a diversion to turn An's mind onto something other than his eyes hence the small amount of water, little did she realise just how effective a diversion it would turn out to be.

The linguist prised An away from his neck and wiped his face before holding the glass of water up to his mouth. As the cold water touched his lips An gulped greedily. His thirst hadn't been fully quenched when he'd drained the glass earlier but as he hadn't wanted to be punished because he'd asked for more he had remained thirsty.

As he emptied the glass An sat on Nyan's lap with a pleading expression on his face. Janet took one look at the big beseeching eyes and had to wrench her own eyes away before she grabbed the boy and hugged him for all she was worth. "Tell him he's allowed another half a glass but no more," she said, directing the request over An's head to where Nyan was sitting. "I don't want him filling himself with water or he'll won't eat the food that I've got coming for him."

The linguist relayed Janet's message to the boy who grumbled low in his throat but didn't complain. The water had woken his stomach again and it let out a loud gurgle in the quiet room. An dropped his head to his chest in embarrassment but Nyan rubbed his arm gently and told him it was nothing to worry about and that there was food on the way. Janet then poured the half glass of water and An sipped at it, slowly this time, partly because he knew there would be no more to follow and partly because Nyan had promised that he would eat soon. The fact that he'd been crying over Janet's refusal to promise that he'd see had been temporarily forgotten and the boy returned to his normal acceptance of his dark world.

~#~

Once the water was gone Janet restarted her exam and there was a brief moment of panic on the boy's behalf when she started to remove the material that was bound around his left hand. He squealed, wrenched his arm out of her grasp and tucked the hand into its usual position under his neck. It took a while but eventually Nyan persuaded An that the doctor only wanted to look at his arm. The boy made Janet promise that she wouldn't try to unwind the material. It was important. He couldn't tell them why - he didn't know, he just knew that it was important.

Once Janet had faithfully promised not to try and take the material from An's hand he was relatively happy to let the doctor move the strips of cotton around so she could examine his hand and arm underneath. He refused to unball the hand from the fist he'd formed but other than that he submitted to her ministrations quietly and without argument.

~#~

When Janet had pushed aside enough material to check out most of the boy's arm and hand she leant back slightly with a bemused expression on his face. She still had An's hand in hers and stood gently tapping her fingers against the cotton as she looked at the boy in contemplation. Nyan had explained to her that An had refused to remove the bindings in the bathroom even though the material had got very wet in the shower and she knew from the experience of just a couple of minutes ago that he was very defensive of the arm for some reason. 'Was it the arm though?' Janet mused. 'Or just this particular, somewhat tatty, worn piece of cotton?

"Nyan?" she said suddenly. "Do you think this could be something like a security blanket? Something that he had when he was small maybe? Possibly something from his original home or even his parents?"

Nyan thought for a moment and then frowned. "I don't know, I hadn't thought of it before," he admitted. "I guess I just assumed it was some sort of bandage. What gave you the idea?"

When Janet let go of An's hand he curled it back under his chin and snuggled back against Nyan's body heat.

"That...well at least partially," the doctor answered, waving her arm towards the boy. "He's...well the best thing I can come up with is 'overprotective' of that arm from the elbow down. If there were any obvious signs of ailment or injury that might make sense but I honestly can't see anything like that at the moment. Nothing I've done appears to hurt him and I saw him holding the glass earlier so I know he can extend his fingers if he wants to, it just...it just appears that, at the moment, he's decided that he doesn't. I really need to get that lot off him and have a proper look at the whole arm in one go but that's not going to happen any time soon. I still haven't seen the palm on that hand but other than a general irritation of the skin and a bit of chafing the rest of it looks fine. I'm pretty sure that the bindings have caused most of the skin problems and I'm certain I could clear them up if I could only get him to take that damn thing off."

Nyan had a sudden thought. "He wasn't covering his palm like that earlier," he told her. "When I first came in...and he was on the floor, he was holding onto the bed like grim death. After I'd spoken to him he reached out to me - with that hand - and I pushed past the material until I touched his skin. It was the logical thing to do at the time and he didn't react badly, didn't act like I was hurting him...in fact he all but threw himself at me once I was holding his hand."

"In that case I really don't understand it," Janet admitted after a long pause. "I'm sticking with the theory that it's something from his formative years that he's somehow managed to keep hold of despite everything he's been through. If that's what it is though and not to sound harsh or anything, it's not going to do him any good wrapped around his arm like that. At some point, in the not too distant future, that cloth is going to have to come off. For now though I need to take some samples from him to send to the labs."

~#~

Nyan managed to explain blood tests in such a way that An was intrigued and the boy held his arm perfectly still while Janet took a couple of vials of his blood to send away for testing. Lastly the doctor took a few small samples of scalp hair to run through the electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometer in the vague hope that she might find a match in her isotopic planetary database.

Truth be told Janet wasn't very hopeful of finding a match. The number of planets that she had geographic profiles for was just a drop in the ocean against the millions available across the galaxy. It would be nothing short of miraculous if she found a match but she would try none the less. If nothing else it would give her a profile to keep on file, something that she could use for comparison analysis against other samples that she would add to the database each time an SG team returned from a new planet. Who knew what would happen in the future and where the SG teams explorations would take them? All Janet knew was that it was impossible to predict whether a match would be made in a sample brought back next week, next year or not until long after the SGC had become a foot note in the back of some long-forgotten military text book.


	77. Chapter 77

~#~ (Chapter 77)

There was a knock on the door as Janet was finishing up with the boy. The doctor left what she was doing and went to collect the covered tray of food from the orderly at the door. She thanked the man and pushed the door closed behind her with her foot as she turned back into the room with the tray. The man had been one of the commissary staff and Janet was grateful that he had thought to call into the infirmary and collect the cans of protein drink on his way to the observation room. Most of the staff on the base would bend over backwards to make life easier for the overworked doctors and nurses of the SGC. Many of them had passed through the doors of the infirmary over the years, either as patients or visitors, and every single one of them had been treated with the utmost kindness and respect when they had been there.

Janet lifted the cover from the plate and nodded as she saw that her request for food 'suitable for an undernourished child' had been understood by the commissary. There was a good selection of food on the plate, all in small quantities and mostly soft, relatively bland items that were unlikely to turn a potentially delicate stomach. The doctor was pleased to see a small mound of scrambled egg, some mashed potato (with a large blob of melted butter on top) and a pureed mix of carrot and rutabaga. On the other side of the plate were some little strips of steamed chicken breast, a couple of pieces of fish in a white, creamy sauce and half a slice of bread and butter that someone had cut into 'soldiers'.

The boy sat up and sniffed as the smell of the food began to permeate the room and his stomach grumbled loudly.

"I'm not surprised you're hungry, young man," Janet chuckled before she remembered that An couldn't understand what she was saying. Turning to Nyan she said, "Make sure he takes it slow. We don't really know what he's used to and we don't want to make him sick." She then placed the tray on the rollaway table and moved it until it sat about half way up the bed. "I'd like him to try a little of everything if possible. I need to know if there are certain things that he won't eat before I start to draw up a diet plan for him. I'm worried that he might not have had some of these things before and they may seem strange to him. These for example..." Janet tapped the side of a clear plastic beaker that was standing next to the plate. It had obviously been added to the tray as an afterthought by some caring commissary worker who'd thought that the boy might appreciate something sweet. It contained four small cubes of Jell-O, one of each colour, red, orange, green and blue. The effect of the bright colours of the treat would obviously be lost on the boy but Jell-O had a very sweet, very fruity taste that most children, and certain blonde Air Force Majors, couldn't resist. "I somehow can't see the Goa'uld going in for Jell-O in a big way, can you?"

The linguist smiled and shook his head. He tried to lift An off his knee with the intention of sitting the boy beside him on the bed to make it easier for him to eat his meal but he soon gave up with this idea when An grabbed hold of his arm and refused to let go. Instead he adjusted An so that he wasn't snuggled quite so tightly against his T-shirt and spoke quietly to him. _"Are you comfortable?" _he asked. _"This little feast smells wonderful, does it not?"_

An sniffed appreciatively and nodded. He then made Nyan explain everything on the plate. The Bedrosian had a few problems describing some of the things but An didn't seem to mind the somewhat vague imagery just as long as Nyan kept talking to him.

When Janet cleared her throat Nyan realised that he boy was stalling for time. _"Are you not hungry, little one?" _he asked.

An swallowed what Nyan thought might have been the start of a sob, rolled his left hand back into a ball and placed it under his chin before trying to bury his face back into Nyan's chest. Nyan stopped the boy before he hid himself away again and gently but firmly held him upright in the hope that he might continue talking instead of clamming a brief attempt to wriggle his shoulders out of the linguist's grasp An seemed to slump and a tear escaped from one eye before rolling down his face. He wiped it away with his right hand and, in a hitching voice, he said,_ "I am most hungry and the aroma is magnificent but I cannot eat it. If I try you will get angry and send me away."_

_"Hey now, do not talk like that," _Nyan stopped the little boy before he was able to get himself into too much of a state. _"I will not send you away, do you understand that? I would never send you away and neither would Doctor Janet, Samantha or anyone else in this place. Why do you think that we would?"_

_"The food you described, it is soft food and I will make a mess with it," _An explained, unfurling his left hand and using the soft cotton wrapping to wipe the now freely flowing tears._ "I am a youngling no more and I should be able to feed myself properly. The Jaffa of Lord Ba'al would not aid me and eventually only allowed me dry foodstuff so they did not need to clean me after my meals. Not long after that I was taken and placed on the Ha'tak."_

_"What about on the ship?" _Nyan asked._ "You have not been with Lord Ba'al's Jaffa for some time. How did you manage then?" _

An faltered for a moment before replying._ "The Jaffa aboard the Ha'tak gave me whatever food they could bring to me and this was usually either meat or bread which I had no difficulty eating. I also had water in my room for days when they did not manage to bring me food. I do not believe that the Jaffa on the vessel were able to transport more complicated foodstuffs to me but as I had only had the clothing I was wearing and no-one to clean them I would have been unable to eat it anyway."_

Nyan released An's shoulders and stroked the boy's back as he translated for Janet.

The doctor grimaced, "Well that explains why he's in the state he's in - he's had none of the vitamins and minerals that he's needed to grow properly. It's amazing he's lasted as long as he has, let alone being cognisant and communicative. He's got to eat though, no matter how much he might not want to. I don't want to but if he doesn't eat then I'm going to have to take drastic measures. He's only avoided a drip so far because he was asleep and I thought it was best to let him rest. The next stage after an IV would be a feeding tube and I really don't want to do that after everything he's been through. If he won't feed himself will he let you feed him? If he's been used to dry food then these are probably going to be completely foreign to him and he might not like the textures. They're all good, healthy things though that should help to introduce him to the sort of diet that he should be enjoying. Also, after he's eaten some solid food you can let him have as many of the protein drinks as he wants. They've sent a couple of flavours but they're very mild. They're just like milkshakes really so I'm sure he'll be OK with them.

Nyan looked down at the boy who had stopped crying and was now fiddling with the bindings on his left hand, sniffing occasionally. _"Would you let me help you?" _he asked. _"I promise you that no matter how much mess we end up making I will not leave you. We are worried that if you do not eat that you will get sick. We just want you to be healthy and for that you need to eat properly."_

Both Janet and Nyan waited while a range of expressions - fear, worry, confusion and then something akin to hope - passed across the boys face. He then suddenly dropped his forehead against Nyan's sternum and mumbled something.

The only thing Janet picked out among the muffled Goa'uld words was her name and she took a guess at what he'd said. "Well, I need to go and get these samples down to the lab. When I've done that I'll arrange for a VIP room that you can both…er…" Janet stopped and raised her eyebrows at Nyan. She realised that no-one had asked the linguist whether he was actually willing to stay on the base and turn his peaceful life completely upside down for at least the next few days. The doctor thought it was discourteous to just assume that Nyan would drop everything for a boy that was completely not his responsibility but as it stood Janet had no other viable option but to ask.

The linguist blinked slowly and nodded his agreement, understanding what she was asking of him.

"…that you can both stay in for the time being," the doctor continued. "It's not ideal but it'll certainly be better and more private than in here. After that I'm going to check on the baby, then Sam and then, with any luck, I'm going to sleep."

Nyan smiled. Sleep was definitely what the doctor needed. Janet had a somewhat frazzled air about her and looked like she needed to crash for a good couple of days. The linguist knew that she probably wouldn't actually leave the SGC until her two young charges were hale and hearty but he knew that the outburst of earlier had probably proved to Janet that she would do more harm than good if she didn't stop and look after herself in the next couple of hours.

Janet patted Nyan on the shoulder and risked a gentle ruffle of An's hair. "I'll leave you to it," she said quietly.

The boy flinched but turned his head in Janet's direction. _"Thank you,"_ he replied and then waited for Nyan to relay his thanks to Janet.

The little doctor nodded to herself and whispered a quiet, "It's my pleasure, Sweetie." She turned away with tears in her eyes and knew the little boy was listening as her footsteps tapped across the floor.

When the door finally closed with Janet on the corridor side the child wrapped his arms around Nyan's torso and whispered thanks to his new friend for staying with him. He once again made Nyan promise not to leave him and then adjusted himself on the linguist's lap so that Nyan could help him eat.


	78. Chapter 78

~#~ (Chapter 78)

Janet's first task when she left the observation room was to deliver the samples of An's hair to Doctor Lee so he could put the first of them in the spectrometer and set it going. She had three samples in total, from different parts of the boy's head and requested that the science team tested the other two overnight so she could collect the results in the morning.

When she left the science lab Janet then headed for the infirmary. She had a quick chat with the on-duty nursing team where she received an update on Mickey Davies, was told that Majors Peterson and Templeton had been ordered to sleep for the night and that Sergeant Marshall had been sent home. The doctor asked after Sam and was informed that the Major had presented herself to the infirmary as ordered and that Doctor Warner had taken a look at her and deemed that she was 'well enough to go to bed' and had then promptly ordered Sam to 'please remove your Colonel from my infirmary before he breaks something.'

Janet shook her head, snorted and told the nurses she thought that was a very 'Warnerish' comment although she, probably more than anyone, knew how tiring Jack was when he decided to start fiddling with things. She handed over the vials of An's blood, ordered the appropriate tests to be carried out and then told her staff that she was heading to her on-base quarters and that, barring emergencies, she was not to be disturbed until 0600 the next morning.

The doctor then paid a quick visit to baby Noya. The little girl was peacefully asleep in her crib and Mollie's nightly replacement Jo was sitting in the chair beside her reading a book. She stood up as Janet opened the door and stepped out into the corridor where the two women could talk without disturbing the baby. Jo told Janet how she had come on-shift while Jack and Sam had been visiting the baby and that she and Mollie had done another blood test on her before Mollie went home. Noya's blood-sugar levels had still been good and Jo gushed at how Sam seemed to have a natural bond with the girl and had stayed and comforted her while the nurses carried out the heel prick.

Janet's last stop before bed was to check on Sam and Jack. Although Doctor Warner had agreed that Sam could get away without an IV overnight Janet knew she wouldn't be able to sleep without seeing for herself that both she and Jack were alright.

Janet knew from the nurses that Jack had finagled a VIP room for the pair of them stating that his on-base quarters were X number of light years away and Sam's were too cramped for a fully grown Air Force Colonel and his still-somewhat-shaken Fiancée. Janet started to head that way before she suddenly remembered that she had to arrange a room for Nyan and An.

Swinging around she headed back into the infirmary and rounded up a couple of nurses, one to go and book a room and one to round up some essential items such as toothbrush and toothpaste for both An and Nyan. The Bedrosian didn't travel off-world and had never been assigned a locker so it was unlikely that he would have a change of clothes on-base. Janet arranged for someone from supply to deliver a T-shirt and a pair of BDU pants to the infirmary and then set about getting a set of scrubs out for Nyan to sleep in.

She was fussing around searching for a small sized scrub top when Niko appeared. The blonde man was no longer dressed in his nursing attire but was now clad in a soft, grey cotton T-shirt, black jeans and sneakers. He looked around as he entered the infirmary and spotted Janet almost immediately.

He strode over and dropped a bag on the bed near to where she was standing. "Clothes," he announced. "Everything I had in the car. There's underwear, a couple of shirts, two pairs of pants and a sweater. Some of them might be a little big but they only need to last him tonight and I'll bring some more in the morning. I'll bring some socks as well, there's usually some in there somewhere but they obviously didn't get replaced the last time they were used."

Janet smiled. "Niko, you're an angel," she said. "Are you sure you don't mind?"

"I'm sure," Niko replied, nodding his head. "And neither will my wife. She'll have great fun putting some outfits together for him...and don't worry, I know better than to say anything about where he's from. He's just a refugee who's passing through and needs a little extra help while we locate his family. It's the truth and you know Mij won't question it."

Janet clutched Niko's hand for a short moment. With a firm squeeze she said, "Thank you so much, I really wasn't happy with the thought of him staying in scrubs overnight. They're not really suitable for him to be wandering around in and I can't imagine he'd be particularly comfortable lying down in bed either because he'd be constantly getting tangled up. Thank you again, Niko. Now go home. Kiss your wife, hug your kids and tell Mirja I say she's a lucky woman."

Niko smirked. Janet and Mirja had known each other for years, far longer than Niko had worked at the SGC in fact. Mirja worked for the law firm that had handled Janet's divorce case and the two women had got talking while waiting for the attorney to come out of a meeting that had overrun. They had met again several other times as the divorce got progressively messier and when it was finally over Janet had taken Mirja out to 'celebrate'. The two had become firm friends and Janet had become like one of the family. When she'd taken over the infirmary Janet had immediately recommended Niko for a position at the SGC and the two had worked together ever since. Mirja had always understood that Janet was military and that there were 'official secrets' that she couldn't ask about. Once her husband started working in a military base she had automatically assumed the same applied for him and had never pushed Niko for answers once he'd told her that a particular subject was 'classified'.

"Lucky woman. Yes ma'am. Thank you, ma'am, I will certainly do that," the Finn replied with a smart salute. The effect was spoiled somewhat when he quickly scooted out of the door as Janet grabbed a towel from the shelf and went to swat him with it. Niko continued down the corridor and soon disappeared from view.

Janet stuck the toothbrushes and toothpaste into the bag with the clothes and slung it over her arm. She then grabbed the scrubs and newly-delivered T-shirt and BDU and then announced to the room that she really was leaving this time and remember 0600 and not before.

~#~

The little doctor found the VIP room that had been assigned to Nyan and the boy. She swiped open the door and placed the scrubs, bag and BDU clothes on the bed. She then retrieved the toothbrushes and paste and put them on the shelf above the sink in the bathroom.

Once she was happy that Nyan would have at least the bare essentials to last the night she left the room and went in search of Sam and Jack.

~#~

Their room was in the next corridor down from Nyan's and Janet pressed her ear against the door trying to decide whether it was safe to go in. She couldn't hear any noises from inside so there was a possibility that the pair of them were asleep. Erring on the side of caution and in particular not wanting to wake up Sam if she was sleeping Janet decided not to knock. She swiped her card in the door, knowing that it would flash a little green light on the inside of the door and that this would alert Jack that a 'friendly' was coming in if he was still awake.

The door lock snicked quietly open and Janet pushed the door open just enough that she could slip through. The light from the corridor illuminated a strip of the dark room just enough for Janet to see two entwined figures on the bed. Sam was fast asleep, facing Jack with her head tucked under his chin and the pair had a blanket pulled up to just above waist level. True to form the Colonel was awake and Janet could see light reflecting off his eyes as he watched her close the door and walk across the room towards him.

Except in rare cases of total power failure none of the rooms on the base were ever completely dark. Every room contained dull green emergency lights in the walls, mounted at floor level and spaced every couple of feet on each wall that contained a door. This had proved useful to Janet on many an occasion as it meant that she could move around the rooms and check on her patients without disturbing them.

The doctor stopped beside the bed and crouched down so she was eye level with Jack. The Colonel was lying on his right side with his left arm wrapped protectively around Sam's back. His right arm was tucked under Sam's neck and held her close against his body. Jack was wearing one of the soft, grey Air Force T-shirts that he favoured sleeping in and as she looked closer Janet realised that Sam appeared to be wearing the same.

"How are you both?" she whispered.

"We're OK, Doc," came Jack's quietly whispered reply. "Did what we were told you know? Left the baby when we were told and got ol' Doc Warner to check Sam out before we came in here, had a shower and went to bed. Sleeping Beauty here was out like a light the minute her head hit the pillow."

"You should be asleep too," Janet scolded. "You've had a bad few days too, remember?"

"Just...digesting." Jack paused and buried his nose in Sam's still-damp hair for a moment and when he emerged he quietly cleared his throat before continuing. "Big...things, Jan. Big...life-changing...things."

Janet carefully avoided Sam's head and reached her arm across the pillow. She scrunched her fingers into Jack's damp-spiked hair and gently kneaded his head. "Good big things, Jack," she reminded him quietly. "All of them good big things. Stop thinking about them now though, you need to sleep. Everything and everyone will still be here in the morning so please Jack, sleep."

Jack was fading fast. The soothing massage of Janet's hand in his scalp along with her soft words and the cadence of Sam's breathing against his chest were all pulling the tired man towards sleep. With a shuddering exhale of breath the Colonel quit fighting and allowed himself to freefall into the arms of Morpheus.


	79. Chapter 79

~#~

**NOTICE: If you read the previous chapters on or before 19th August 2009 you may want to go back and read the newly revised and much-extended Chapter 76. I hope you'll agree that the additional parts fit into that chapter far better than they would have done in a chapter of their own.**

~#~

~#~ (Chapter 79)

Nyan realised that some children were messy by nature but An seemed to have turned it into an art form. He was either unwilling or unable to use a knife or fork and insisted on trying to pick up everything and transfer it to his mouth using his fingers. This didn't really matter at first because Nyan started An off with the chicken as it was most like the food that the boy had been used to eating. An ate the strips of chicken cleanly and with great gusto and Nyan congratulated him before directing his hand to where the bread and butter sat on the plate.

The boy once again relished the simple food and the whole half-slice of bread soon disappeared. An was a little buttery on his fingers but on the whole not too bad.

Once the bread had gone Nyan leaned around to fill a glass with water from the jug on the table beside the bed only to turn back and find that An had decided to sample some of the other food on the plate. Unfortunately for the Bedrosian the first thing the little boy had put his fingers into had been the carrot and rutabaga mix. He'd successfully got some of it into his mouth and was manipulating it with his tongue to draw out the flavour. As well as the mush in his mouth he also had it smeared across one of his cheeks and, as Nyan watched, he wiped his fingers on the clean blue material of his scrub top.

_"Nice,"_ An commented with a smile as he scooped another fingerful of orange goop from the plate. This time the food didn't make it to the boy's mouth but instead it slipped off his finger and liberally splattered itself down the front of Nyan's T-shirt. The boy flicked the remaining food from his hand with an annoyed squeak. Nyan's promise that he wouldn't get mad or leave had either been taken very literally or the boy was so hungry it had overwritten his worries about making a mess.

_"Stop,"_ Nyan said gently, catching An's still-flicking hand with his own. _"If you let me help then I have a better way."_

He grabbed a spoon and scraped the paste from his front before wiping the spoon clean on a tissue. He then scooped a small amount of the food onto the spoon and held it up to the boy, resting his fingertip on the boy's chin so that An knew his hand was there. _"Open your mouth,"_ he requested.

An did what he was told and Nyan placed the spoon on his tongue. The boy closed his lips around the spoon and pulled away so Nyan had to let go of the spoon. An grabbed hold of it and sucked the carrot mix from the implement like a lollipop. He then pulled the empty spoon from his mouth and held it out so the linguist could repeat the procedure.

Using this method Nyan managed to get almost half the food into An followed by three of the Jell-O cubes. Even though the Bedrosian had fed the boy most of the food they were both liberally coated in a variety of different coloured splashes had Nyan now understood why the boy had been so concerned about making a mess...

The little tyke had objected vehemently to the texture of the scrambled egg and had immediately spat it into his right hand when Nyan had placed it in his mouth. He had then ground most of the spit-covered egg mixture into his scrub top before Nyan'd had the chance to drop the spoon and stop him. While the linguist had been wiping down An's top the boy had stressed himself back into thinking that Nyan would send him away and had started pulling on his hair on the side of his head, successfully coating a large amount of his recently washed hair in a layer of thin, eggy slime.

Nyan looked at the boy and decided that, as well as changing An's clothes, he was going to have to give him another shower before they headed out to the VIP room.

With a groan and a carefully controlled stretch, that wouldn't unseat the boy on his lap, the linguist looked down at himself and chuckled. He was going to have to commandeer a scrub top for himself as well because there was no way he was walking down the corridors of the SGC in the state he was in. Luckily for Nyan his pants had survived because most of the food that had fallen downwards had landed on the boy but he decided that his T-shirt was probably beyond redemption.

Quietly telling the boy what he was doing Nyan lifted him up and slid off the bed. He positioned him so he had his butt resting on the linguist's left arm and carried him to the cupboard where Janet had got the scrubs from earlier. After one-handedly rummaging through the tops, the Bedrosian dragged out one for himself and another for the boy. He then stepped into the bathroom, stood An on the tiled floor and closed the door.

~#~

When the two finally emerged from the bathroom, An once again in Nyan's arms, the linguist discovered that someone had been in and removed the dinner tray. He looked around but nothing else had been touched, the crumpled covers were as he'd left them, the protein drinks were still on the rollaway table and his loafers were still underneath the chair by the bed. Nyan looked up to the viewing area and, finding it empty, shrugged. He decided that the commissary must have sent someone for the tray and they had probably knocked on the door only to have it go unanswered when Nyan couldn't hear it over the noise of the shower. Whoever it was had then presumably tried the door, found it unlocked and taken the tray back out with them.

~#~

Nyan walked back to the cupboard and grabbed a fresh blanket. He sat the boy on the bed, wrapped the blanket around him and then picked him back up so that An's head was resting on his shoulder. The blanket covered the boy so that only his head was showing and no-one would know he wasn't properly dressed beneath the wrapping. Nyan carefully toed his feet into his waiting shoes, tucked a couple of the cans of protein drink between the boy's body and his own and then made a quick call to the infirmary. He needed to tell them that he was taking An out of the observation room and, at the same time, find out which VIP room had been assigned to him.

_"We are going to find a nicer room to stay in, with a proper bed,"_ he told the boy. _"Are you ready?"_

An nodded and buried his face in Nyan's neck. The linguist had fully expected this reaction to leaving the safety of the observation room and patted his back._ "It will not take long. Do not worry, it is not far away and it is very late so there will be few people around."_

He carried An out of the door and into the now-quiet corridor. The linguist wandered down the hallways of the SGC and up the stairs to the level where the VIP suites were to be found. He had been unsure of how An would react to being in an elevator car but had also thought it less likely that they'd come across someone else if they avoided the more travelled corridors and that meant taking the stairs.

An SF opened the door and stepped into the stairwell as Nyan was about to leave on the VIP level. He gave Nyan an odd look and opened his mouth as if to ask why someone was walking around the SGC late at night with a child tucked under their chin.

Nyan realised he probably looked an odd sight wearing a blue scrub top, brown jeans and loafers and he was pretty certain that he probably had egg somewhere in his hair. He lifted his hand from An's back and waved a finger at the SF, shaking his head as he did so to stop the soldier before he could speak.

The man raised his eyebrow but stepped backwards and held the door open, allowing Nyan and his blanket-wrapped companion to pass though unhindered.

Nyan passed through the doorway and set off down the corridor towards his VIP room.

~#~

Nyan breathed a sigh of relief when he and An finally reached their room and entered it. The linguist pushed the door closed behind himself and paused for a moment, leaning against the solid wood.

He looked across the bed to a table where the nurses had placed the assorted clothing items and noted with gratitude that someone had thought to send some replacement clothes for himself as well as tracking down some child-sized clothes for the boy.

_"We are here,"_ he whispered to the child, who was still buried in his neck. _"You can come out now, there is only you and I here."_

Nyan waited until An had raised his head before he reached down and retrieved the protein drinks from between them. He threw them carefully onto the bed and set about detailing the layout of the room to the boy. He explained that a single bed sat in the middle of the wall opposite the door and that there was a small cupboard beside the bed on one side and a chair on the other. There was a tall thin wardrobe in one corner of the room with the table next to it and along the side wall that held the bathroom door someone had placed a low, foldaway bed for An. Nyan didn't mention it to the boy but there was a security camera above the wardrobe. The nurse from the infirmary had promised that it would be switched off and as the linguist described the room he checked and found that the camera was unplugged.

_"Someone has left some clothes for you that look like they will fit better and be much more comfortable than this big thing."_ Nyan pulled down the blanket and wiggled the arm of An's scrub top, smiling at the boy even though An couldn't see it. The child wriggled and shook both his arms free of the blanket before throwing them around the linguist's neck and squeezing tightly.

Nyan reciprocated, hugging the boy back but not entirely sure what he'd done to suddenly deserve the display of emotion. As he was being hugged Nyan left the door and crossed the room to the table where be picked out some clothes that looked like they might fit the boy. He then carried the child across the room, untangled him from the thick woollen infirmary blanket that he'd been wrapped in and sat him down upon the foldaway bed.

One of the nurses had placed a small, blue, fleecy baby blanket near the head of the bed and this tickled An's legs when Nyan sat him on it. The boy slumped down sideways and lay quietly, stroking the fleecy material as the linguist quickly stripped and dressed him in briefs and a pair of black, cotton pants. The pants were a little long and Nyan rolled the bottom hem over a couple of times so the boy wouldn't trip over if he wanted to walk around. The last piece of clothing that Nyan had picked was a scarlet coloured T-shirt. As he unfolded it he discovered that it bore a huge logo across the front that read O'Neill in bold, blue letters. The linguist snorted loudly and was glad when An didn't question his mirth as he pulled the shirt over the boy's head.

Once he was dressed An rolled on his back and cuddled the blanket around himself. Every now and then he would lean his head down and rub the soft material against his cheek and sigh contentedly.

Nyan knelt on the floor beside the bed, free of clinging child for the first time in hours. _"Got yourself a_ snuggly _have you?"_ he asked with a chuckle, deliberately saying the word in English as he had no Goa'uld equivalent and then explaining what he meant by a 'snuggly'.

"'nuggly," An replied, testing out the unfamiliar word.

Nyan watched for the boy's reaction as he repeated the word. "Snuggly," he said.

"'nuggly," came back the boy's reply.

Nyan put more emphasis on the 'S' sound. "Snuggly," he said again.

"Sssss'nuggly," An drew out the 'S' far more than Nyan had done.

"Snuggly," Nyan said again, wondering if the boy was trying to draw him into some sort of a game.

"'nuggly," came the reply from the child who was now wriggling around on his back with the blanket clasped tightly to his chest, the faintest trace of a smile showing on his lips. "'nuggly, 'nuggly." Obviously the boy preferred the word without it's accompanying 'S' and was enjoying his little 'snugglefest' on the bed so Nyan let him be.

_"That is near enough,"_ he said, ruffling the boys hair. When he'd been washing An's hair for the second time Nyan had realised that the boy was no longer shying away from the linguists occasional touches to his hair and the trust that the boy had placed in him had momentarily stunned the Bedrosian, so much so that An had questioned why he'd stopped rubbing the shampoo in.

An paused his wriggling as Nyan moved his hand away. The boy had a contemplative expression on his face and suddenly he held out his arms in the universal childhood gesture that said "I want a cuddle" and it seemed to Nyan that now An had been fed, cleaned and stoked up on Jell-O that the child behind the boy was starting to come out of hiding.

This was the first time An had initiated contact between himself and Nyan and the linguist leant forwards to pull him into a hug and, as he cuddled into the scrub top that Nyan was still wearing, the boy mumbled something.

Nyan pulled the boy backwards slightly so he could actually hear what the child was trying to say. _"What did you say, little one?"_ he asked. _"I did not hear you."_

An wriggled a little and looked blindly up at the linguist. "'nuggly," he said, very clearly and precisely. "'nuggly Nyan."

_"That is right,"_ the linguist chuckled. _"I have been very _'nuggly_ today and so have you, you are a very _'nuggly_ boy. Now I am not sure what Doctor Janet thought we could do in here but somehow I don't think that you are going to be going back to sleep any time soon now are you."_

An shook his whole upper torso in reply. _"No, I did not think so," _Nyan laughed. _"It is just as well then that I am used to nights where I have very little sleep. If you are patient for a few minutes then we will go and find something to do. You have been washed twice today but I smell of carrot and that is not fair."_

An pointed his nose towards Nyan and sniffed loudly before wrinkling his nose up in mock disgust.

_"Exactly,"_ the linguist replied with a grin. _"That is what I mean. Now if I take a shower what are you going to do? I can leave the door open so you can hear me or we can take the chair into the bathroom if you would prefer."_

An leaned backwards and deliberately overbalanced himself in such a way that Nyan was forced to drop him backwards onto the bed. _"I think that means that you are staying here then?_" the linguist checked and waited for An's response. The boy nodded so Nyan said, _"Very well. Do not be afraid to shout if you need me. I will leave the door open so we can hear each other."_

An nodded again and then threw himself backwards on the bed with the 'snuggly' blanket over his face.

Nyan smiled and patted the boy's arm before walking across the room to gather up his change of clothes. The black T-shirt and BDU combo was the same as Nyan had been given to wear after his sudden arrival from his home-world and he picked them up, along with the pair of Air Force grey briefs that had been left out for him and headed for the bathroom.

~#~

Nyan was about half way through his shower when An wandered into the room. The linguist automatically jumped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around his waist before he remembered that the boy couldn't see him anyway. With a shrug he unwound the now-soaking towel, hung it back on the rail and stepped back into the shower, sending his thanks to Nefertum that he'd grabbed An's already wet towel and not the one remaining dry one that he had put aside for himself.

The little boy hadn't seemed to notice that Nyan had jumped out of, and then back into, the shower and was following the wall, feeling his way with his hands. He was stepping slowly enough that he wouldn't hurt himself if he walked into something and Nyan noticed with a smile that the blue baby blanket had come along too. It was tucked into the waistband at the front of An's pants so that he could have both his hands free.

_"Do you need something?"_ the linguist called out as he watched the boy's careful movements. _"Or are you exploring? If you want to sit move to the left."_

An did what he was told and stepped slowly to the left until his right knee touched the side of the toilet bowl. Nyan had already closed the lid before he got in the shower and the boy clambered up and sat on the top stroking his blanket._ "I was wondering where we were going to go when you have finished showering. You said that we were going to go and find something to do. Where will we go? Will there be other people there? I do not think I want to be where there are lots of other people."_

_"I guessed that you might not," _Nyan told him._ "But do not worry, as I explained before there are not many people around this late at night. I was only thinking that we could go to my office...my work area. I have lots of old books that I can read to you as well as many artifacts that I can tell you about. Would you like that?"_

_"I would like that a lot and I can tell you stories," _An agreed._ "I make up good stories. May I have a drink?"_

The linguist was momentarily flustered by the abrupt change of topic in the conversation. _"I think that is a very good idea. Doctor Janet says that you can have as many of the canned drinks as you feel you need. I put them on my bed. Can you manage to find one while I finish up in here?" _Nyan realised that he'd been standing under the flow of hot water but hadn't actually done anything about getting himself clean since An had entered the room.

An nodded and slid down off the toilet. Nyan kept an eye on him as he slowly left the room and once the boy was out of sight he quickly washed and rinsed his hair and clambered out of the shower.

He quickly dressed and was leaving the room when he saw An coming back towards him with the can of drink.

_"Oh, well done,"_ he cried as he bent down, cuddled the boy and then lifted him up onto the foldaway bed.

An smiled at the praise and held the can out so that Nyan could open it for him.

_"You are such a good boy," _the linguist said as he opened the can._ "Now you drink that all up and we can go and explore my office."_


	80. Chapter 80

~#~ (Chapter 80)

Janet all but collapsed into her bed in her on-base quarters and remained deeply asleep until she awoke just a couple of minutes before 0530. She lay on her back, rerunning the last few days in her head and her eyes wandered over the brushstrokes that had been left behind when the ceiling above her had last been painted. For a few short minutes Doctor Janet Fraiser felt at peace with the world.

After a short while the doctor decided that she had too much to do that day and as she was obviously not going to fall back to sleep she clambered out of bed and threw herself in the shower.

Once she was fully dry and clothed Janet felt 100% better than when she had finally crashed the night before. She wandered along to the commissary and picked up a bowl of muesli. She chopped a banana and added it to the bowl before adding some milk and sniffing appreciatively. Grabbing a spoon Janet then wandered down to the science lab, eating her breakfast as she walked through the still-quiet corridors of an early at morning SGC.

~#~

The doctor wandered into the lab and found it deserted. During the night someone had completed the tests on the spectrometer and had pinned the three results up on the notice board ready for Janet to take away and analyse. She took the sheets and headed back to her office, successfully managing to get all the way into the small room without being stopped by anyone along the way. She dropped the now-empty cereal bowl into the sink and powered up her computer, ready to compare the first of the printed sheets with the figures in her database.

After about twenty minutes of number crunching Janet came up with a match and a frown formed on her forehead. She reached for the second of the sheets of paper and, finding that the data agreed with the first sheet she then checked the third. She shook her head as she found that all three samples of An's hair showed the same results when matched against her database but the facts in front of her made no sense and couldn't possibly be right.

The doctor sighed as she started at the screen and willed the figures to change. The readings she was looking at seemed to hold traces of a planet that Janet knew to be long-since-dead and also traces that were uniquely Earthy in origin.

As she tapped her index finger against her lips she began to think that the samples taken from An the night before had been contaminated somewhere between the observation room and the science lab, or if maybe the spectrometer itself had developed a fault. She was still looking bemused when she eventually got up and went to track down a nurse.

~#~

The night-shift were still manning the infirmary when Janet came out of her office and there was a little confusion while the results of An's blood work-up were located. Janet quickly scanned them and was glad to see nothing of immediate concern although there were some interesting points that the doctor took note of so she could look them over in more detail when time was more plentiful.

Janet was pleased that she'd taken an extra vial of blood from the boy when she found that a DNA profile had not been carried out on the sample sent to the lab the night before. Unless specifically ordered otherwise the lab technicians ran a standard range of tests on every blood sample sent to them throughout the day and the doctor mentally kicked herself for not adding a DNA test to the lab request the day before. If her isotopic composition analysis hadn't come up with any sort of a match then the blood test wouldn't have been so important but as it was it was essential that Janet had a genetic profile on An as soon as possible.

She went to the refrigeration unit, extracted a small amount of blood from An's vial and then had one of the nurses run it down to the lab with the orders that DNA profiling was to be carried out and the results sent to her immediately upon completion. The General had booked at debriefing at 1030 that morning and Janet knew she was fast running out of time in which to complete her tests. The General and Jack, along with the surviving members of SG-2 and the team leaders from SG's 3, 5 and 15 would all be present and the doctor dearly wanted something of substance to tell them about the little blind boy who they had rescued. To go into the debriefing with only probably-erroneous results from the isotope composition testing just wasn't acceptable and Janet knew that the figures she'd matched on her database would create more questions - and probably conflicts - than they solved.

~#~

As the nurse scuttled away Janet looked at her watch. She sighed and decided it was still too early in the morning to call any of her contacts to discuss An's eyes. Over the seven and a half years that the SGC had been running there had been numerous incidents where personnel had required the services of an expert eye surgeon. It was neither practical nor secure to send wounded men or women to the Academy Hospital each time they needed specialist treatment so Janet had created a list of ophthalmologists who could be called in to take charge of problem cases. She had several to choose from, all of whom had signed the official secrets act and would therefore be allowed into the lower levels of the mountain at short notice.

The doctor pottered around the infirmary for a while before eventually ending up visiting baby Noya when she heard the little girl crying from down the corridor.

~#~

Mollie had just come on-shift when Janet called into Iso 2 and by the time Janet reached the door the baby was cooing happily. The changeovers between the two nurses were always a bit fraught, mainly because they were the only times of day when Noya got particularly upset. Jo and Mollie adored the little girl and both women showered her with attention. This was great for the baby as it meant she was being stimulated on a one to one basis during the day but it also meant that at the beginning and end of each shift she got a double dose of attention and it regularly got too much for her to handle. Jo and Mollie knew why she got upset and knew they were smothering her but both women realised that they would only have the little girl for a limited time so couldn't bear not to hug and cuddle her every opportunity they got. All they could do was settle her down again once the other nurse had gone home and make sure that the time they had alone with her was time of the highest quality possible.

Just over half an hour after walking into the Iso room Janet found herself paged to the nurse's station.

~#~

Upon completing a DNA profile the lab computer was set to automatically compare the results with the massive databank at its disposal. This databank included what was quickly heading towards being the first Global DNA Database. Copies of the DNA profiles on record within the Combined DNA Index System in the United States, the National DNA Database in the United Kingdom and most of the other databases from INTERPOL's member countries around the world had been gathered together in one place and were available for almost instantaneous comparison.

To safeguard against misuse of data, personal information was not stored within the databank itself. The genetic information was logged against a twenty three digit alpha-numeric code and the once the record was locked the only modifiable field was whether the subject was living or deceased. The science team run an update once a week between the databank and the McKay Encrypted Network Server (MENS) that held the personal information relevant to the codes.

When the computer compared a sample against the databank it was programmed to search all records for a match regardless of whether the person was alive or dead. Once it found a match the process would restart and a search for partial matches would be made among only the records for all people marked as 'alive'. This was advantageous in the fact that it not only cut down the amount of non-relevant 'deceased' results but it also reduced the search time considerably.

Once the comparison tests were completed a printout was produced which detailed the codes of the exact match and partial matches so it could be passed to whomever had ordered the comparison to be carried out. Once that person had the printout all they needed to do was log into MENS and then enter the code into the system. This would bring up the personal information, including a photograph if one existed, of the individual that the code belonged to.

~#~

Janet was hurrying back down the corridor and into the main room of the infirmary when one of the nurses flagged her down with a sealed envelope marked 'URGENT.'

The doctor walked into her office and closed the door before dropping into the chair by her desk and tearing the envelope open.

She removed the single sheet of paper from the envelope and sat for a moment, thinking. The lab had created the DNA profile as she'd requested and, almost miraculously, it had come up with a match.

Janet realised this was big...big in oh-so-many more ways. It showed the doctor that her initial understanding of the peculiar readings from the spectrometer had been correct. It also proved that An's hair samples had been contaminated somewhere along the line and that that had created the spurious readings that had indicated a second planet in the mix.

If the computer had found a DNA match in the databank then that meant An had originally come from Earth.

Janet suddenly realised something else - An was only five years old at most and that meant that at some point in the last five years a Goa'uld, or some other equally alien life form, had visited Earth and had snatched the small boy. Apparently they had done this quietly, efficiently and most un-Goa'uldishly as they had obviously arrived, snatched and departed without causing a major international incident. Janet knew that the security team monitored news footage from around the world 24/7 and she was certain that something about an alien spacecraft stealing children would have made the headlines the world over if anyone had actually been witness to it. If such a thing had been discovered then it had been covered up so well that Janet had never got to hear about it.

She shook her head. As a proud member of the USAF she shouldn't be thinking like that. That sort of thing was the job of Homeworld Security, the President, the Joint Chiefs of Staff and possibly the USAF public relations bureau. Her job was to deal with the fallout if it all went wrong and she had to patch up the dedicated men and women who put their lives on the line every day, originally for their county but now for their entire planet.

~#~

Janet unlocked her desk and retrieved the laptop that was used solely for accessing the MENS system. She placed it on her desk, powered it up and then waited for it to boot. Once it was done she entered her fifteen digit access code and the system loaded.

The doctor carefully typed in the alpha-numeric code from the lab printout, noting as she did so that although the system had apparently found an exact match for An's blood sample it had found very few partial matches indicating that An had no immediate relatives flagged as 'alive' in the databank. That was odd in itself. In this day and age, especially with the recent advancements in medical science, it would be most unusual for a small boy to have no surviving relatives in his immediate family. This meant that all of An's siblings, both his parents, any uncles and aunts and all four grandparents must have perished at some point.

Janet had a momentary panic that An was another Cassie but in her heart she knew this wasn't the case. She'd not found any signs that An had been implanted with any alien technology and surely not even Ba'al would risk Osiris, a Ha'tak vessel and an entire ship full of Jaffa in the vague hope that the Tau'ri might rescue one small boy before he died. Would he...

The doctor shuddered. Was the little boy really the last surviving member of his own family? Had he lived in some remote community only to have them wiped out when he was taken by whichever alien entity had snatched him? Authorities somewhere had obviously located the bodies of his nearest and dearest and had registered them as deceased which had, in time, updated the databank and Janet wondered if she would discover that An had also been marked as dead even though his body had obviously never been located.

As she looked up from the paper Janet saw that this was in fact the case. Large red letters spelling DECEASED marred the middle of the screen. The doctor sighed and clicked the little red cross in the corner of the deceased flag so she could gain access to An's record and find out what had happened.

~#~

As the flag disappeared from the screen and the record beneath was revealed. The colour drained from Janet's face and she quickly rechecked the code that she's entered from the paper matched the one on the screen.

When she saw that the codes did in fact agree she realised that everything she'd thought in the last ten minutes had apparently been complete rubbish. The results she was holding hadn't even come from An's blood. Someone, it seemed, had either deliberately or accidentally mixed up the test results. Whether the blood sample had been swapped or the results falsified one thing was clear - the results on the paper bore no relevance to the sample that Janet had sent down to the lab earlier.

With a sad smile Janet ran her finger down the cheek of the familiar face that had appeared on her screen. She then closed the laptop down, locked it back in the drawer and went to get more blood from An's sample to send down to the lab to start the whole process again.

~#~

Janet once again siphoned off a little from the vial of An's blood and sent it down to the lab. She then looked at her watch and decided that 0815 was late enough and went back into her office to start making phone calls.

The first call she made was to Doctor Henri Leitzmeier, an ophthalmic surgeon based out of the Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre in Los Angeles. Leitzmeier had been to the SGC several times and he, out of all Janet's contacts, was the one that she really wanted to come and take a look at An.

She was still talking animatedly to him when the new set of results arrived from the lab. A nurse knocked on the door before pushing it open and handing Janet the envelope. The doctor dismissed the nurse with a smile and a wave and opened the results at the same time as Henri was confirming that he'd be at the SGC early the next week. Both doctors had agreed that An's situation wasn't a matter of life and death and that a couple more days would make no difference in the long run. Henri also needed that long to arrange cover for himself for the following week, to book his plane tickets and to pacify his wife who had never understand why working with deep space telemetry caused so many ophthalmic problems.

Janet frowned as she compared the piece of paper she'd just removed from the envelope to the set of results she'd received from the lab earlier. "I'm sorry Henri," she said into the phone. "I've got to go. Let me know when you've booked your tickets and I'll have a driver waiting for you at the airport. I'll see you in a few days...and Henri...thank you."

She placed the phone back onto its cradle and sat her elbows on the desk with a set of results in each hand. The figures on both pieces of paper matched completely. That was impossible...unless the results were being deliberately altered. If this were the case then there was either a severe security issue going on in the lab or, Janet thought, there was someone down there with a grudge who had set out to deliberately upset people around the base - starting with her.

~#~

The little doctor folded the results papers and placed them carefully in her pocket. She then stood, pasted a cool, calm look on her face and stepped out of the office.

Trying not to look like her mind was solely focussed on the identity of one small boy she slowly wandered up and down the beds, checking on the few patients who had been unfortunate enough to spend the night in the infirmary. Once she'd checked over their charts and made some brief notes on a couple of them she went to the refrigerator. There was only enough of An's blood in the little vial to complete one more test and Janet had decided that she was going to go down to the lab and run the whole thing herself. If she did that then she could guarantee that whatever was going on in the lab would not interfere with the tests and she would finally get the correct results from the databank.

As she put the sample into her pocket she checked both the integrity of the glass tube and the label but found it look exactly like it had when she had placed it in the refrigerator the evening before. There was no sign that the bottle had been changed, the seal tampered with or the label altered in any way. Janet was certain that it was the same vial that she had filled with blood taken from An's tiny arm and with that she left the infirmary and headed for the lab.

~#~

Many of the technicians were flustered when the base's chief medical officer appeared in their lab and commandeered one of their extremely-expensive pieces of equipment. Several people queried why the DNA analyser had been used so frequently that morning but by that point Janet was in no mood for answering questions. She told the technicians, in no uncertain terms, that they could "Leave me to do my job and get on with your own work or go away and have an extended coffee-break and come back when I've gone."

No-one left the lab but everyone gave the fired up doctor a wide berth and left her in peace.

~#~

Janet became more tense the nearer the computer got to completing its task. Her blood pressure rose dramatically when the printout emerged and she saw that the code number on the newest printout agreed with the previous two in her pocket.

That could only mean one thing in Janet's mind - that the blood sample she'd spent the last few hours analysing was in fact not the one that she'd drawn from An. Where the sample she'd just used up had come from and how it even existed, Janet had no clue but whoever and however it had been swapped it had been expertly done.

Not to be outdone and determined that she was to get to the bottom of things the doctor strode from the lab, back to her office and phoned General Hammond. She explained that An's samples had been tampered with and that it looked like a professional job - maybe the NID had found out about the boy and wanted to study him - but she didn't go into details about what results had been thrown up, she just told him that the results were impossible.

The General assured her that he would get people to investigate and that he'd also have someone review the security camera footage for the infirmary and the lab. Janet thanked him and then informed him that because of the problems of that morning she was going to have to replace the samples and then rerun the tests. This was likely to take some time and as it was already approaching ten o'clock she wouldn't be able to finish the job before for the start of the debrief. He told her not to worry but to get there when she could. The briefing was probably going to be a long one anyway so they would address some of the many other-than-medical issues in the time before she arrive. She thanked him for his help and hung up the phone.


	81. Chapter 81

~#~ (Chapter 81)

Janet pocketed a fresh sample bottle, needle, syringe and tourniquet and left the infirmary. She headed for the VIP room that had been assigned to Nyan and knocked quietly on the door. There was no reply so she knocked again and waited. When no reply came this time she swiped her card into the slot and pushed the door open, creeping inside in case Nyan and An were asleep.

She found that she needn't have worried as both beds were empty. The bathroom door was open and Janet could see that the towels had been used and that there were clothes in the basket by the door. The pair had obviously visited the room at some point but looking at the beds it didn't look like they'd slept in there and Janet realised there was only one other place that Nyan was likely to have taken the boy.

~#~

Taking the elevator to level eighteen Janet wondered how Nyan had got on with the boy overnight. It struck her that a lot had been imposed on the gentle Bedrosian in the last twenty-four hours but that he'd not complained in any way and she vowed to ensure that General Hammond knew what exactly the linguist had done for the boy.

As she stepped from the elevator and walked down the corridor Janet was hit by a moment of melancholy. She'd often come to the office when it was Daniel's, either for a friendly chat, a coffee, or to remind the linguist to eat when he'd lost himself in one of his fascinating translations. Since her bespectacled friend had passed away there had been very few reasons for the doctor to ever come to this level and she realised that she hadn't actually set foot in Daniel's office since it had passed to Nyan.

Unlike Daniel who used to leave his door open virtually all the time, whether he was in the office or not, Nyan tended to prefer enclosed spaces and always kept the door closed. Someone had questioned him over it when he'd initially taken over the office but the linguist had answered that it was a nervous habit caused by something in his childhood and had offered no further explanation. No-one had asked again after that.

Janet stopped outside the door and gently knocked.

Just like when she'd knocked at the VIP room there was no reply. Janet was certain however that both Nyan and An were inside the office. She just couldn't see that Nyan would have taken An anywhere else on the base without telling someone or at least leaving a note, even if he had had somewhere to go. The linguist no longer had a room on the base as he'd given up his VIP suite when he'd moved in with Major Donnelly. Once Jack had gifted him Daniel's house everyone had rightly assumed that he'd never move back under the mountain and his room had gone back into normal everyday use.

At 1005 the commissary would be full of people so Nyan wouldn't have taken the boy there, there was no reason for them to go to the gym or any of the communal areas and even if Nyan had needed to stretch his legs it was highly unlikely that An would have been happy out and about in the base in the middle of what was equivalently 'rush hour'.

Janet realised that she'd been standing, staring at the closed door for almost five minutes. She breathed deeply and shook herself. 'It's only a room, Jan. It's only a room,' she muttered and tried the handle.

~#~

The door swung inwards with a quiet squeak - one that Nyan had refused to let the maintenance teams fix. When Sergeant Siler had offered to silence it the linguist had protested, stating that it meant no-one could sneak up on him when his back was turned. Siler had put it down to being 'weird alien foibles' and told his men to leave the door alone. When Janet had heard about it via the base scuttlebutt she'd realised there was probably something more to it than that but she could see that Nyan obviously had his own way of coping with whatever demons had troubled him in the past. The Bedrosian had never given her cause for concern so she'd never had reason to question him over it but had filed away the titbit of information should it ever be needed for future reference.

Janet braced herself and stepped quickly through the door, closing it behind herself before she turned and looked into the room. She was surprised how little it had changed since she had last been there. The lighting was still muted, the desk still cluttered and the air still smelt slightly stale, like an old museum.

As she scanned the room for linguists and little boys Janet's eye landed on the toe of a military issued sock sticking out from behind the solid wooden shelving unit that stood sideways between the couch and the door. Daniel had asked for the shelf unit to be placed in such a position so that it would shield whomever was on the couch from a lot of the noise from the corridor. Having the quiet area in his office had proved useful to the linguist on many occasions when he'd emerged from a translation at silly o'clock and then been too tired to drive home.

As Janet stepped around the shelf she had to slap a hand over her mouth to stop a loud "Aaaah," escaping. Nyan was fast asleep, slumped backwards on the couch with his head resting at an uncomfortable looking angle. By the rumpled appearance of the linguist's T-shirt it was obvious that An had started out resting on his chest but the boy had apparently slipped down and was now curled up, fast asleep between Nyan and the arm of the couch with his head resting in the Bedrosian's lap. Nyan's right arm was resting protectively across An's shoulders and his left hand was resting just a couple of inches away from a large brown book that lay open on the couch beside him.

Janet looked at her watch and winced. She would have to let An wake up properly before she took his blood but if she took too long then Nyan was going to be late for the debriefing. The linguist had been invited to attend because he'd sat in on the debrief with Teal'c the previous day.

Janet positioned herself in such a way that Nyan would see her as soon as he woke up and gently shook his shoulder. She'd never had cause to wake the Bedrosian from a deep sleep before and jumped back when he woke with a start. Nyan's head flew forwards and he frantically patted around himself when he realised that An was no longer on his chest. He located the boy who woke up with a squeak and clambered back into his arms, dragging the blue baby blanket up with him.

Nyan wrapped an arm around him and slid himself backwards into a more comfortable sitting position on the couch. Now he was fully awake he seemed to notice Janet for the first time and looked at her in confusion.

"Doctor Fraiser, what are you doing here?" he asked. "It's early, I would have thought you'd still be resting."

Janet smiled and lifted Nyan's left arm so his watch was facing him. "It's a quarter past ten, Nyan. You have a debriefing with the General which starts in fifteen minutes. Have you two had anything to eat yet this morning?"

Nyan nodded. "What? Oh, yes, several hours ago. I was a little worried about going to the commissary but when I phoned to explain the situation they told me they were already expecting to bring us breakfast and I just had to tell them where we were and what we wanted." Nyan looked down at himself and had a sudden panic. "I can't go to an official meeting like this. I need to change, I need to wash...I need to shave."

"Shaving yes, washing...maybe, changing no. There's not enough time especially as I need to take another blood sample from this little guy," Janet waved her hand in the direction of An. "I've had a...problem in the lab and the samples seem to have been mixed up. I've got one last test that I need to do before I come to the debriefing and no, before you ask, I'm not going to get it done on time. Because of the problems I've been having I need to follow this sample from beginning to end. Then, and only then, will I come to the debrief."

Nyan nodded and murmured something to An. His reply was simply to slide down onto Nyan's lap and stick his right arm out in front of him so that the inner part of his elbow was exposed. Janet's mouth fell open and Nyan chuckled and spoke some quiet words to the boy who nodded. The linguist then wrapped his right arm around An's shoulders in case he flinched and Janet proceeded to take the blood test.

~#~

When that was done Janet left to head back to the lab. Nyan picked An up, carried him into the tiny bathroom that was attached to his office and sat him on the toilet while he shaved. Daniel had originally been allocated a tiny workspace but had quickly filled it with artifacts and books and not long afterwards had been relocated to what was now Nyan's current office. It was much bigger, with plenty of space for shelving and came with the added bonus of its own bathroom. When Nyan had taken over the office he'd found Daniel's shaving kit on the shelf above the sink. He had smiled sadly and carefully put Daniel's things away before replacing them with his own. He'd figured that if Daniel had needed them in his office then he might as well but until today he'd never had call to use them.

Once An had finished his toileting and Nyan had helped him wash his hands they had barely enough time to get to the debrief. Nyan retrieved his shoes from where they'd been abandoned under the desk and put them on. He then picked An's blanket up from the couch and handed it to him where he was perched in his usual spot on the linguist's left arm. _"There are more people around now," _he told the boy._ "Will you be alright?"_

An thought for a moment and then obviously made a decision. He put the blanket in his left hand, buried his face in the right hand side of Nyan's neck and pulled the blanket over the still visible portion of his face so that his head was completely covered.

_"Good plan,"_ Nyan chuckled. _"Ready?"_

The blanket nodded and replied, _"Ready." _

~#~

It took Nyan far longer than normal to get from his office to the briefing room. It was mid-morning on a normal working day at the SGC and the corridors were now busy with people who seemed determined to stop and talk to him. An stayed hidden beneath his blanket but coped admirably with the myriad of people around him.

By the time he got to the end of the corridor Nyan knew he'd missed the beginning of the debriefing and decided to risk using the elevator. He did his best to explain to An that they were going to travel in a moving box - like a tiny ship on a cable - but he had a feeling his explanation hadn't really got through to the boy. The car arrived Nyan was glad to find there were only three other people inside. He was aware of more interested stares as he walked in with An but he just leant against the rail on the sidewall near to the door and told the Sergeant nearest the buttons that he wanted level twenty seven. The Sergeant hit the appropriate button, the doors slid smoothly shut and the car began to move. Unfortunately, as elevators are prone to do, it lurched ever so slightly as it set off and An shrieked. _"Don't take me back," _he screeched into Nyan's ear. His hand had clutched the back of the linguist's T-shirt and his feet scrabbled to gain purchase on the waistband of Nyan's pants. _"I'll be good. I'll be clean. Just don't take me back."_

Nyan waved urgently to the Sergeant and he hit the 'open door' button. This didn't work as the elevator was already moving so instead he quickly pressed the buttons for levels 19, 20 and 21 knowing that the elevator would stop when it reached the next one. It seemed that they had got too far for level nineteen and the panicked shouting continued until the doors slid open on level twenty and Nyan was able to escape from the car.

Aware that the shrieking from the elevator car had attracted more unwanted attention Nyan quickly headed for the stairwell. As he reached the door he spun round and pushed it open with his back before he hurried through. Once behind the door he squatted down, leant against it to stop anyone coming through and gently dropped An to his feet between his legs.

The child stopped yelling almost the instant his feet touched the floor and he stood there for a moment sucking in deep hitching breaths. Nyan gently folded his arms around him and pulled him against his chest in a comforting hug. He rubbed his hands up and down An's back and listened as the boy mumbled words into his T-shirt. All Nyan made out was 'rings' 'mess' 'rings' 'ship' and 'good' as An's panic gradually died away. Nyan soothed him with quiet murmurings and reassurances that he would never be sent away.

After a couple of minutes An was much calmer and just as Nyan was about to release him from the hug the linguist was almost sent flying as someone tried to push open the door that he was leaning against. He jumped to his feet and scooped An up with him as he sidestepped so that the pair ended up standing behind the door as it swung open.

Major Griff burst through the door and looked around in confusion when there was no-one immediately obvious at the top of the stairwell. As the door swung closed Nyan was revealed and the Major sounded his relief with a loud exhale of breath. "Doctor Bedrosan, thank God. When you missed the start of the debrief the General sent Pierce up to your room on 25 but he phoned down to say it didn't look like you'd been there all night. We rang the infirmary in case you'd gone there but no-one had heard from you all night and you didn't answer the phone in your office. We were starting to get worried that you and little'un'd been snatched 'cos apparently there's strange things been going on down in the lab where the this one's concerned. I reckon the General was about ready to send out a search party when Sergeant Edwards knocked and told us what had happened and where you'd got out."

Nyan addressed the other man, "Major Griff, thank you. We had a bit of a fright when the elevator set off but I think we're OK now. An..." He stopped and spoke quietly to An who nodded. Nyan adjusted his hold on him until he was once again perched on the linguist's left arm with his head hidden in the neck/blanket combination. Nyan turned back to the Major, "...An believed that we were in a ring transporter and worried that I was taking him back to the ship."

_"But he forgot,"_ Nyan continued, switching to Goa'uld for An's benefit and jiggling the boy slightly on his arm. _"He forgot that I will never send him away."_

The linguist repeated what he'd said, in English this time and Griff shrugged. He then pointed down the stairs with a gesture for Nyan to start moving.

~#~

Once it was known that Nyan was still on the base and that he'd just got diverted along the way there was no need to hold up the debriefing any longer and there was an in-depth conversation going on by time Griff, Nyan and An entered the room.

Griff preceded the other two into the room and cleared his throat. All talking ceased as Nyan stepped through the door with An and his blanket leaning on his shoulder.

Sam, looking much improved after a good nights sleep and a good breakfast, broke the sudden silence. "Nyan are you OK? We were getting worried."

"Little tyke give you a hard night did he?" Jack asked from beside her. "You're looking a little..." Jack waved his arms in Nyan's direction with a circling motion, "...dishevelled."

"Jack," the General warned quietly. "Leave the good Doctor alone. I think it's safe to say he's not had the easiest of mornings." Hammond then turned towards Nyan. "Sit down son, before you fall down, and then kindly explain what happened."

Nyan immediately started heading for the free seats at the end of the briefing table but Lou jumped out of his chair beside Sam and motioned the linguist into it. Nyan sank gratefully into the seat and noted that, even though he couldn't see, An was aware of Sam's presence. The little boy held his left hand out across Nyan's chest towards the blonde Major who interlinked her fingertips with his and whispered a quiet 'Kel Sha.'

Nyan smiled as an shook Sam's fingers back and forth with a happy sounding "Samantha."

_"Yes, that is right,"_ Nyan whispered in his ear. _"Did I not say that you would be visiting with Samantha today?"_

An nodded and the blanket, that was no longer being held in place by his left hand, slipped down over his shoulder. He raised his head in panic as he realised that he couldn't retrieve the fallen material because his right hand was tucked around Nyan's back and his left was entwined with Sam's.

Nyan gently plucked the blanket from his shoulder and tucked it between their two bodies. _"You do not need to hide, little one," _he murmured._ "The people in this room helped to save you and Samantha from the Ha'tak vessel and there is no need to shield your face from them. General Hammond is the commander of this place - he sent the teams to rescue both Samantha and Colonel Ferretti who is also here. You no longer hide from Doctor Janet and myself and you do not need to hide from anyone here."_

An thought for a while and then nodded and settled back down onto Nyan's chest, still clutching Sam's fingers tightly between his own.

~#~

Nyan turned to the General who was patiently waiting with a grandfatherly look on his face. He explained that he hadn't stayed in the VIP room because there had been nothing in there that would amuse a small boy. He'd taken An to his office while the corridors were quiet and then stayed there for the rest of the night. They had breakfasted at 0630 and then apparently fallen asleep until Janet had woken them just before the debriefing. He apologised profusely for his rumpled appearance and explained that as Janet had wanted to take another blood test from the boy he'd had no time to locate or change into any clean clothes. The General said that he understood and promised to have a change of clothes sent to the VIP room and Nyan's office so that Nyan would be able to change whenever he got the chance.

As he was speaking the linguist was aware that An was gradually inching his way across his chest. Each time he moved he got a little closer to Sam and Nyan eventually removed his right arm from around the boy's waist which made it possible for An to sit up so Sam could help him clamber into her lap. As he sat up the logo on his T-shirt came into view and Lou, now sitting at the end of the table, snorted loudly.

Jack looked down the table at his friend and then followed Lou's gaze back up towards the boy. "Ah, for cryin' out loud. Nyan, did you have to?"

An had spent so much time plastered against the Bedrosian's front that Nyan had forgotten about the big blue O'Neill logo on the boy's T-shirt. He raised his hands and waved them in a 'don't blame me' gesture and then sat back in the chair with a smile on his face. He did his best to straighten his clothing while Sam got An settled and very soon the General resumed the debriefing from where it had left off when Nyan and An had entered the room.


	82. Chapter 82

~#~ (Chapter 82)

The technicians in the lab watched with trepidation as Janet stalked through their doors for the second time that morning. Each of them guessed that she was there to use the DNA analyser again and left her a clear path across the lab to it.

With precisely controlled movements Janet reset the DNA analyser, inserted the blood sample that she'd removed from her pocket and switched on the machine. A thoughtful lab worker handed her a styrofoam cup full of hot coffee and she leant against the machine, sipping her drink while she waited for it to complete its cycle of analysis.

~#~

The machine let out a 'ping' and its printer sprung into life, churning out a report that Janet could compare to the ones she'd had created earlier.

She removed the piece of paper from the printer and folded it in two before she walked back to her office where she spread the sheet out on the desk in front of her. She pulled the earlier sets of results out of her pocket, lined them up next to the one she had just created and sat down.

As she studied the four sheets of paper Janet was horrified to find that every one of them contained the same twenty three digit alpha-numeric code. This meant that there was a 99.9% probability that all four tests came from blood extracted from the same person...apparently a person who Janet and everyone else at the SGC had left for dead on a remote dust-ball of a planet almost eleven months before.

She opened a drawer, pulled out the secure laptop, booted it up and, with trembling fingers, punched the code into MENS. Like she had done earlier she cleared the 'deceased' flag and looked into the eyes of her long lost friend...one who had apparently returned to them in the form of a small, blind, five year old boy.

~#~

With tears in her eyes Janet pulled the lid of the laptop shut and then dropped her hands to her lap. She slumped back in her chair and stared at the now-dormant machine.

"It's not possible," she muttered quietly. "...just...just not possible."

~#~

After about ten minutes of near catatonia the little doctor shook herself. "Come on Janet, pull yourself together. You've seen some incredible things over the years. Things that you've thought were impossible but turned out not to be so. It's happened, therefore it is possible."

She climbed to her feet and, almost reverently, caressed the lid of the sleeping laptop. Smiling sadly to herself she crossed the little office to the row of filing cabinets that sat along the back wall. Once there she pulled out a drawer at the bottom of the far-right cabinet and removed a large file.

Most archived medical records for deceased members of the SGC were sealed and sent for storage way up on level seven. A select few however were retained by Janet. These were records that had been flagged for their points of outstanding interest and saved for ease of future reference and research. The particular file that Janet held in her hand had been in and out of the doctor's bottom drawer more times than she cared to count and not only for research purposes. The individual who the file pertained to had been classified as 'deceased' many times but had always returned to them eventually. By some miraculous force or the other it appeared as if it he'd been saved once again. This time however it seemed that something had gone wrong with the resurrection process and instead of getting a healthy thirty-eight year old man the SGC had received a heavily traumatised, sightless child.

Janet stepped back towards her desk and sat down. She flipped through the first couple of pages in the file until she found the sheet that showed the standard DNA test that was run on every member of staff before they stepped through the gate for the first time. The doctor had suspected as much but as she looked she found that the twenty three digit code in the file matched the four sheets that had been produced that morning.

Now she had conclusive proof of An's identity Janet made a call to the security team and informed them that there was no longer any need to investigate the tampering of samples in the infirmary. It had all been a misunderstanding, she told them, and it had been dealt with.

When she finished on the phone the doctor slowly and carefully gathered together the proof that she would need when she presented her findings in the briefing room and then set out from her office with the file, all four test printouts and the still-closed MENS laptop under one arm. As she passed through the infirmary she grabbed a couple of cans of protein drink, dropped one into each of the large pockets in the front of her lab coat and then set out for level twenty seven.

~#~

Janet could hear muffled conversation as she walked down the corridor that lead to the briefing room. She slowed as she approached the closed door, trying to work out exactly how she was going to drop her bombshell on the ten English-speaking people in the room beyond.

Eventually she could stall no longer. She readjusted her hold on the 'evidence' she had brought with her and rapped on the door before walking into the room.

~#~

All conversation stopped as the doctor stepped through the door with her arms full of paperwork and her laptop.

The General immediately picked up on her distress. "Doctor Fraiser, whatever is the matter? You haven't had any further incidences as per this morning, I hope."

"Er...no, General, nothing like that," Janet stuttered. "I've...I discovered that was a misunderstanding on my part. I've called the security team to let them know they're no longer required."

"Understood," Hammond replied, nodding. "You've obviously been upset though, would you like to discuss anything with me before we continue with the debrief?"

Janet's eyes scanned the room before she answered. Her eyes fell first on the worried face of Nyan and, when she realised his arms were empty, she looked over to Sam before she finally caught sight on An. The boy was cuddled up against the Major's chest with his snuggly blanket tucked under his chin. His eyes were closed and it seemed that the muted conversation in the room had lulled him off to sleep. Janet knew how little sleep both An and Nyan had had the night before and fully understood why he was tired. "Oh...er...yes. If you don't mind, General, that may well be a good idea. I would like to tell someone what I've found before I break it to the room. I won't take long, I just want to explain the basics to you."

"Very well." The General motioned towards the door of his office with his arm. "I take it, by the amount of things you've brought with you, that you need to show me something as well as tell me?"

Janet nodded her reply. As she started to move towards the office she jiggled the laptop and papers about and rummaged in her pockets for the protein drinks. Fishing one out she handed it to Nyan. "For when he wakes up," she explained. The Bedrosian nodded, looked over to check that An was still asleep and placed it on the table in front of him.

The doctor looked around and found that the General was waiting for her by the door of his office. She hugged the laptop and papers to her chest, looked sadly over at the sleeping for of An and then turned and followed General Hammond out of the room.

~#~

There was an air of general confusion in the briefing room when the door to Hammond's office snicked shut, followed seconds later by the privacy blinds,

"What the heck do you reckon that was about?" Jack asked.

"I dunno," Griff replied. "But it's not often the Doc gets that...ruffled, is it?"

"Not in public," Sam murmured quietly, mindful of the sleeping child resting on her front. "She's not the ice queen you lot make her out to be you know. She gets as upset as anyone else, she's just good at not showing it here. Whatever Janet's found it's got to be big...monumentally big to make her that frazzled."

Sam jumped slightly when Teal'c spoke up from behind her. She hadn't realised before but the large Jaffa had set up sentry duty and was standing at parade rest behind her chair. "I believe that DoctorFraiser had discovered the identity of Lord An's place of origin. Is it not possible that she is disturbed by the notion of returning him to his homeworld? She took the child Cassandra into her home, did she not? Perhaps she was hoping that this child would become a younger brother for CassandraFraiser."

Sam disagreed, "I don't think so, Teal'c. I'm sure it's something bigger than that. Janet just wouldn't let something like that show at work. I agree it's something to do with the boy but it's something...else. Oh God, you don't think she's found something wrong with him do you? Something bad?"

Jack put his arm around Sam's neck and pulled her slightly towards him, careful that he didn't disturb An. He knew he'd scared the boy twice in the last forty eight hours and the last thing he wanted to do was frighten him more. The first time, when he'd touched An's arm under the bed the boy had flown into a panic and tried to kick him. The second time, when Jack had carried him back to the SGC, his feet had actually made contact and bruised a rather delicate part of Jack's anatomy. The Colonel vowed that he wouldn't give the little tyke the chance for a repeat performance and as An was sitting on Sam he didn't want to scare the boy into accidentally hurting her either. "I'm sure it's not that, Sam. He was awake and aware enough on the ship and he's apparently been up all night after eating a decent amount of dinner. If, and I mean IF there is something wrong then he's in the best place. He can be dealt with by the best doctors and nurses in the US and whatever happens, he's in a far better place than he was two days ago and he's got massively better prospects for the future."

Sam crooked her head to the right and leant her cheek against Jack's arm. "I know," she said quietly.

"Do you think it's something to do with why he can't see?" Griff piped up.

Nyan answered this one. "Possibly but last night Doctor Fraiser sounded hopeful that something could be done to help him in that respect. She was going to call some specialists this morning so maybe she did and they've given her some bad news. She told me she had a theory about his eyes but wouldn't say any more than that except that she was going to make some calls."

"Still doubtful she'd take it that bad though," Sam grumbled quietly. "I'm telling you, when we find out what it is it'll be phenomenal."

~#~

A while later the door to Hammond's office opened and Janet stepped out with her pile of paperwork. The General, who was now carrying Janet's open and powered up laptop, followed and every adult in the room was instantly aware of the somewhat-stunned look on the portly man's face.

Hammond retook his seat at the head of the table and placed the laptop onto the tabletop to the left of where he was sitting, facing backwards towards his office so the others at the table couldn't see what was on the screen.

"People, Doctor Fraiser has some rather...disturbing news for us regarding the boy," he said. "I am going to hand the meeting over to her and I respectfully ask that you let her finish what she has to say without interruptions. Colonel O'Neill, I am directing that request towards you in particular. When you hear what the doctor has to say you WILL want to react but please at least...attempt to restrain yourself."

Jack looked as if he'd been slapped. "Oookay, I have no idea why I've been singled out but yes, Sir, I will do my best."

"I mean it Jack," Hammond warned. "This is going to be bad enough without you yelling and/or throwing things."

"Cross my heart," Jack made the motions with his fingers, "I'll be good, Sir."

The General deliberately ignored Jack's bit of worry-riddled cheek. "Doctor Fraiser, can we get this over with please. I have an awful feeling this extremely lengthy debriefing is just about to get a whole lot longer."

Janet stepped forwards from where she had been hovering behind General Hammond and stood next to him. "Thank you, Sir," she said quietly and then turned to face the room. "As you know I've been working to create a database containing details of the isotopic composition of the planets that the SGC visit. This means that I should be able to identify an individuals planet of origin from scalp hair or bone if we've taken mineral samples from the planet in question. I took samples of scalp hair from An last night and left them to be analysed. When I looked at the results this morning they were jumbled, almost like there were two planets mixed together and one of those two planets was Earth. I know there's no life on the other indicated planet so I sent a sample of blood to the lab to see if it came up with a genetic match or any partial matches to anyone alive or dead here on Earth."

Jack put his hand up and waved. "Sorry, Sir, but I've got to ask...Doc, you're saying he comes from here...from Earth?"

Janet shrugged, "At that point, Colonel, I wasn't too sure what to think. I only knew that there was a possibility that Earth was the boy's original planet but that obviously it could have been another planet entirely that I had no working knowledge of. I saw no harm in running the DNA analysis anyway. Even if it didn't turn anything up and An ended up staying here on Earth then he would need to be added to the database eventually, this way he would already be on there, just a little quicker than necessary."

"So you found something?" It was Lou asking this time. Hammond rolled his eyes, he knew the original members of SG-1 and the current members of SG-2 wouldn't be able to refrain from asking questions. As long as it remained civilised he was willing to let it slide this time. Everyone was about to get a shock and tensions were undoubtedly going to rise in the next few minutes. The General savoured the relative peace while he had the chance.

"Yes," Janet nodded. "The first results came back with a match but I didn't believe them. I sent another one and that came back the same. I took the last sample of blood that I had to the lab and run the test myself but it still came up with identical results. At that point I assumed that someone had tampered with the sample and called the General who sent security to monitor both the infirmary and the lab. I then went and took a fresh blood sample from An and didn't let it out of my sight the whole time it was being analysed. When I compared the results to the earlier three from the other sample of blood they were all the same."

"So you got a match?" Sam asked. "An exact match or a partial match?"

"Partial match?" Jack repeated. "Hang on. Doc, you mean you can find his relatives in your database? His parents?"

Janet nodded. "If his parents were alive the database would have picked them out. Unfortunately they're not so it didn't. It didn't pick out any parents, sibling, grandparents or any other direct relatives for that matter."

"But," Sam prompted.

"But," Janet parroted. "It did find an exact match. I couldn't believe it at first but I've double checked my files and I know who An is...or at least who...who he used to...be." Janet petered out for a moment as her calm exterior faltered.

"He came from Earth and you know who he is...was...whatever?" Jack asked in confusion. "What aren't you telling us, Doc?"

"...I'm sorry, I really don't know how to tell you this but An...An..." Janet turned to the General with an unspoken plea in her eyes.

"People, what Doctor Fraiser is having trouble telling you is that the boy who you've come to know as An is in fact, and don't ask me how this is possible, Doctor Daniel Jackson."


	83. Chapter 83

~#~ (Chapter 83)

Jack was on his feet in an instant, followed a split second later by Hammond who had anticipated the move from the Colonel.

"Sit down Jack," he requested quietly. "I know this is distressing but please, listen. I didn't believe it myself at first but the proof is there in black and white. Somehow that little boy used to be Doctor Jackson."

Jack frowned and punched both his fists down loudly on the tabletop before he sat back down with a bump. "God damn it, Loki," he yelled and shook a fist at the ceiling.

The bang and the shout woke An up and he sat up suddenly with a shriek of _"Nyan."_ Apparently Sam was nice to cuddle up to and sleep on but after spending the best part of twenty four hours in almost constant contact with Nyan, the linguist was the one who meant safety to the boy.

Nyan stood up, wrapped his arms around An and lifted him from Sam's lap. He sidestepped a couple of paces to get the boy out of the immediate vicinity of the table and leant on the wall, gently rubbing An's trembling back.

The boy clung tightly to his neck and Nyan could feel tears seeping into the collar of his T-shirt._ "Nyan, Nyan, don't let me go," _he cried._ "I thought I was back on the Ha'tak and that the Jaffa were coming to kill me. What was the bang?"_

The linguist rubbed his cheek back and forth on An's soft hair. _"Shh, it is alright, little one, you woke up too quickly and forgot where you were. I promise you that Colonel O'Neill did not mean to scare you. He just...he had a shock and it made him cry out." _

Nyan looked across the room and found several of the occupants looking back at him. Jack looked crushed, Sam looked shocked and Teal'c's eyebrows were higher than Nyan ever remembered seeing them before. Hammond, who had sat back down, was watching the Colonel like a hawk, as were Lou Ferretti and Colonel Reynolds. Janet had taken the seat next to the General and had her elbows resting on the tabletop.

Nyan eventually locked eyes with Jack who immediately winced and made a zipping motion across his mouth to let the Bedrosian know that he was going to behave. He had been determined not to frighten the boy again in any way but had reacted automatically when the General had dropped his bombshell.

Nodding his acknowledgement to Jack's signal Nyan began to walk back to his chair. An squeaked and tightened his hold on Nyan's neck. The linguist gently rubbed the boy's back and spoke quietly. _"It is alright, I am just going to sit down. The Colonel wasn't shouting at you, he was upset at something General Hammond said. He is very sorry he frightened you and he promises he is not going to shout again."_

An snuffled against his neck and then nodded so Nyan slowly walked back to his seat and sat back down. He nodded his thanks to Sam as she handed him the blanket that had fallen on the floor when he'd lifted An from her lap. Even now he was seated the boy had a death grip around Nyan's neck so the linguist draped the blanket around his still trembling shoulders and stroked his back to calm him. The trembling lessened bit by bit and Nyan let out a sigh of relief when it finally stopped altogether.

Jack took a deep breath and turned back to Hammond. In a much quieter voice he said, "I thought Thor said Loki had been interrogated properly after the mini-me fiasco. If they went through the records properly you'd've thought there would have been something somewhere hinting that he'd cloned Danny as well."

Janet put her hand up to stop him but Jack was in full flow and ignored her.

"Do we have any clue when he was copied? I was copied just after we got Daniel back from Omaland so it was either only just before me or a year or so earlier before Danny went...glowy? And what the hell went wrong? I fail to believe that someone as intelligent as an Asgard would deliberately turn a short sighted, thirty-something year old, man into a four year old boy with no eyesight? At least I was...I was...me. I had my memories, all my faculties and...hell, I could speak English. If this really is our Daniel then why the hell can't he talk in anything except Goa'uld?"

Janet waved her hand again but Jack ignored her again. Hammond cleared his throat in a quiet reprimand to the Colonel but knew in his heart that Jack would run out of steam soon enough and when he did Janet would be able to talk.

"If Loki'd had a shred of decency he'd've told us about this," Jack waved a hand in the direction of Nyan. "He'd've told us about this when we made him fix my clone. He should've known from that that we'd've taken the boy in. I suppose at that point though it was already too late, maybe Loki'd already dumped him so he kept quiet so as not to get into even more trouble than he already...What?"

This time Janet had not only raised her hand but had stood up. Apparently she had less patience than the General and was unwilling to let Jack continue talking when she knew what he was saying was wrong.

"Colonel, please let the doctor talk." The quietly spoken request came from Hammond. "Let her explain what she does and doesn't know and we'll take it from there."

"Sorry, Sir," Jack replied quietly and leant backward in his chair.

Hammond nodded an acknowledgement to the Colonel and then waved towards the laptop on the table beside him. "Doctor Fraiser, if you please."

"Thank you, General," Janet replied as she pulled the laptop towards herself and shuffled the paperwork into a neater pile. "Unfortunately it's...not as simple as An being a clone of Daniel although in some ways I wish it was. As most of you know Jacob helped us to identify the fact that Jon was clone of Colonel O'Neill. Once we were aware of the tiny abnormality contained within the genes of the Asgard clones we entered that information into the DNA analyser so that it would be able to differentiate between a cloned person and the...er...original."

"You said it found an exact match," Sam butted in quietly. "It didn't find the abnormality did it?"

Janet shook her head sadly. "No it didn't. An isn't a clone. He is actually Daniel...or he was Daniel, I'm not sure on which is the appropriate tense for it. All four results from the DNA analyser matched and here..." She stopped and opened a file on the correct page and walked it around to the other side of the table. She stood on the far side of Jack and put the file on the desk where Sam and Jack could both see it. "...here you can see that the code matches the one on file from Daniel's original medical records. The analyser has no details apart from the codes and the alive or deceased flags. The actual records are stored on another system entirely, one that very few people have access to and I really don't think anything could have been altered."

"MENS," Sam muttered. "That's virtually impenetrable. McKay had me test the damn thing again and again until he finally got it so I couldn't get in. The coding is absolutely genius. If MENS say's he's Daniel then...well he is."

Jack slid the file down the table so that everyone else could see the proof of what Janet was saying.

"We left you behind," he whispered quietly. "God damn it Danny, we left you behind." He was looking over at the boy with a bleak look on his face and was talking so quietly that only Sam and Janet could hear him. An had calmed down and Nyan had managed to unbury him from his neck. He had slid him of his shoulder and the boy had ended up with his right ear resting roughly on the linguist's heart. His head was pointing in the direction of Jack, Sam and Janet and his eyes were open but staring blindly in front of him. He was gently rubbing the corner of the baby blanket up and down his left cheek and the linguist was stroking his hair. As Jack watched the boy let out a contented sigh.

"I don't get it," Lou asked from his spot near the end of the table. "I mean, I can see that all this says that An and Doctor J are one and the same but how can they be? Everyone here...oh, sorry Nyan not you. Everyone here who's military saw the remains of that pyramid first-hand. There's no way anyone could have survived underneath the middle of it, even the Asgard agreed with us on that one. Colonel...Jack, you weren't even all that far inside but you came damn close to never coming back out."

Without taking his eyes off An, Jack held his left hand out to Sam who immediately took it in her right hand and hugged the clasped hands to her chest. Before Sam went to Chamaka both her and Jack had always been careful to keep their relationship completely platonic whenever they were inside the mountain. Since they'd got back though it was all Jack could do to keep his hands off Sam. Whether it be comforting hugs, stroking her arm or back while she slept in the observation room, or just holding her hand Jack was finding it extremely difficult to leave her alone. To her credit Sam realised this and had refrained from commenting. Jack had had lost so many people in his life and had come far too close to losing Sam in the last couple of days. If the rescue teams had been just a couple of hours later the outcome could have been completely different. That short time could have made the difference between life and death for both Sam and Lou. Sam herself would have been in no fit state to fight off either Osiris or his Jaffa and Lou would have undoubtedly been killed trying to defend his team-mate.

As these morbid thoughts were running through her head Sam lifted their clasped hands to her face and kissed the back of Jack's weather-worn one. She then slumped slightly on her chair until she could rest her head on Jack's shoulder. The Colonel suddenly realised that he was in the middle of the briefing room and locked eyes with Hammond who blinked slowly and nodded his head a fraction as if to say he didn't mind.

If it took a little display of public affection to keep Jack grounded then Hammond wasn't going to complain. In the General's opinion Samantha Carter had been one of the defining factors in Jack's eventual recovery from Daniel's death eleven months before. He was convinced that Jack's relationship with his former second in command had stopped the Colonel from setting out onto a very slippery slope - one that started out with 'just one more drink' and ended up in a wooden box six foot under the ground. Hammond knew that life had been hard for Jack, those first six months after he gave up the command of SG-1. Having Sam and Teal'c going off-world without him watching over them had been devastating to the silver haired man and he'd also had to cope - more or less single-handedly - with sorting out Daniel's personal effects. He had then disappeared off to the Alpha site and Hammond had hardly heard from him for a couple of months.

It was only after Jack had reunited the surviving members of SG-1 and whisked them off to his cabin for a couple of weeks that Hammond noticed an improvement in the demeanour of the Colonel. When he'd gated from the Alpha site to meet up with Sam and Teal'c, Jack had still shown signs of slight depression but when he'd returned from the cabin the General had noticed a definite improvement in both the Colonel's mannerisms and how he carried himself. After that trip Jack had started to return to Earth on a more regular basis and he had, after a couple of trips, told the General outright that him and Sam were in a relationship. George had laughed, congratulated Jack and told the Colonel that he'd already worked that out for himself.

~#~

The General shook himself from his thoughts and focussed back onto Janet's reply to Colonel Ferretti.

"...next step is to run a test looking for nanocites in his blood, at least that might give us some clue whether he was somehow changed into the child he is now or if he was regrown from his base cells up."

"What does that mean?" Jack asked with a frown.

Janet thought for a moment. "It means that I don't know if he was regressed all the way back to before he was born. I don't know if a baby was formed from the base elements of Doctor Jackson and then grown up at an accelerated rate or was Daniel...er...shrunk until he was the size he is now?"

Sam blanched. "Oh God," she said. "That it's happened at all is bad enough without knowing the exact details of how he got like...like that." Looking up she found that Jack was still staring at the boy. "What did they do to you, Daniel?" she whispered.

"And why?" Jack's brow scrunched as he thought over what Janet had said. "So you're saying what? That Daniel might have died in the pyramid and then someone, somewhere dug him out and used his body to create the boy? Is Danny...our Danny I mean somewhere in the little guy or is An a whole new person in a...in a...aw hell, I don't know how what to call it - in a Daniel Jackson meat parcel?"

Janet sighed and run her fingers through her hair before she answered. "Colonel, I really don't know. We've seen some fantastic things over the years and we've found people who can resurrect the dead in natural and definitely unnatural ways. Just because we've never encountered a face that resurrects their dead into youthful bodies doesn't mean that those people don't exist, we might just not have found them yet. I did have another, somewhat macabre, thought that maybe Daniel somehow survived the pyramid collapse but was so badly injured that this was the only way to save him. Maybe..." She stopped and winced. "Maybe there wasn't enough viable organic material to rebuild adult Daniel, maybe there was only enough left to create him a smaller body. As to whether our Daniel's thoughts and memories are somewhere hidden away inside that tiny little body...how am I supposed to answer that? Remember, I'm only putting theories forwards on most of this. It's all so way out of my field of experience that I'm simply clutching at straws. All I really know at the moment is that An has a complete set of Daniel's genes and to get further than that I'm probably going to need help. I've already discussed this with the General, Sam, do you think you could contact Jacob for us?"

Sam nodded, "Of course. I think he'd want to know anyway, he always did have a soft spot for Daniel and you never know, maybe Selmak's come across something like this before. We also need to know what's happening with Osiris and whether Sarah's alright."

"That's true," Janet agreed. "On a positive note look at it like this - for somewhere around five years old the boy is a little...well, OK, a lot on the thin side but he seems healthy enough. His heart and lungs are good and Nyan's told me that his mind appears to be very sharp and his vocabulary is extremely advanced."

There was a snort from the other end of the room and Griff piped up. "Teal'c said a similar thing about his speech - says he swears like a Marine."

"He does not," Nyan objected, cuddling An tighter to himself as if he was protecting him against Griff's words even though the boy couldn't understand what was being said. "Or at least he hasn't while I've had him. He's a very polite and well mannered boy. What I meant was that he doesn't talk like a child, he uses big words and complex sentence structures. Quite frankly he talks like someone far old...er...oh...oh, sweet Nefertum..." Nyan suddenly froze and the colour drained from his face.

"Nyan. Son, are you alright?" Hammond was on his feet in like a shot. "Doctor Fraiser?"

Janet hurried around and crouched down by the left side of Nyan's chair. Other than Sam she was the only person who was probably safe to approach him while An was in his arms. Anyone else and there would be a risk of the boy panicking. He'd done so well since Nyan had him that no-one wanted to risk a setback so everyone else kept their distance.

Slowly the doctor placed her hand on the Bedrosian's arm and squeezed gently. "Nyan. Nyan sweetie, what's the matter? Are you unwell?"

A full body shudder run through Nyan and his eyes started tracking from one person to the next around the room. He didn't really come back to himself until An objected to having his head pinned down by Nyan's hand which had ceased it's stroking motions when the linguist had frozen up. The boy wriggled and tried to free himself but when this failed he resorted to slapping Nyan's chest. Luckily for both An and Nyan the boy's first shot was a good one and it caught Nyan in the middle of his sternum with a thud that made him jump and release his hold on An's head.

"What?" he asked and then realised he'd asked it in English. _"What?"_

Now that he was able to, An sat up._ "You were squashing me. You stopped talking and squashed me. Why did you squash me?"_

Nyan looked baffled at all the 'squashings' in the boy's sentence._ "I am sorry, my little friend. I...I did not realise and I certainly did not mean to. Are you alright now?"_

_"No," _came the reply along with a mischievous grin. "_I am thoroughly squashed." _

Nyan chuckled. He had no doubts in his mind now that Daniel's consciousness was somewhere inside the little boy.

Janet raised her eyebrows at the chuckle. "We're OK now then are we? Mind telling me what that was about?"

"What?" Nyan looked at her in confusion. "Oh. I...I realised something."

"Ya know we kinda guessed that," Jack replied, shaking his head. "Would you like to enlighten the rest of us?"

Janet stood up and moved backwards until she was standing next to General Hammond and the General motioned for Nyan to explain.

The Bedrosian had to think for a moment to work out what he'd been saying when he'd suddenly ground to a halt. "Ah, as I said, An uses very advanced adult words in complex sentences. Occasionally childish words and mannerisms sneak through but most of the time it's not like talking to a child at all."

Hammond nodded as he listened to Nyan's description. "Could you give us an example?" he asked.

"Of course, Sir," the linguist replied. "When I was first talking to him in the observation room he told me that he knew his fate. He said he was defective and destined to die and wanted to know why the Goa'uld kept him alive when they despised him. General Hammond, sir, 'defective', 'destined' and 'despise' aren't normal words that a child would use. And another example, just now he accused me of squashing him, which in all fairness I probably was...a bit, but he didn't just say he was squashed he was 'thoroughly squashed'. Again, that's not normal."

Hammond smiled, trying to imagine his granddaughters using such an expression and failing completely. "I understand that, Nyan and I see your point but I fail to believe that was all that caused the extreme reaction we just saw in yourself. There must be more to it than that."

A sad smile appeared on Nyan's face as he looked down at An who was still sitting up on his lap. The boy appeared to be listening to the goings on in the room was turning his head from side to side as each person spoke. "I was running through the things he'd said that stuck out as...not quite right and...and I remembered something. When I lifted him off the floor he cuddled up to me and said that I smelt safe. Colonel O'Neill, Sir, apparently you smell like weapons fire and wood smoke. I smell...I smell like home...parchment, sand and home."

Jack's eyes went wide and he squeezed them hard with the forefinger and thumb of his right hand. He just managed to stop himself before "Crap," he said quietly. "Crap and double crap. He's in there somewhere isn't he?"

Nyan pursed his lips and nodded. "I believe so, yes. Now do you see why I got...er...stuck?"

"Yes, son, we understand," the General agreed. "Nothing about Doctor Jackson has ever been simple and I don't think the problem will improve now he's in...a smaller package." To the room in general he continued. "The next question is what happens to him now? There's no way I can justifiably allow him out of the mountain at the moment. There's only a handful of people on this planet who can speak his language and one of them," he stopped and pointed at Teal'c, "...lives on this base. From what I've heard the boy is completely unstable unless in the company of either Doctor Bedrosan or Major Carter and, given that we know Doctor Jackson's past history with the foster care system, I would be unwilling to turn him over to the authorities even if we ever do manage to get him speaking English. The only option that leaves us is some sort of off-world adoption to a Goa'uld speaking planet. Abydos would have been the logical choice but obviously that option is no longer possible. Ishta has enough on her plate already with the Chamakan children so we couldn't send him there and with his disability we'd have to be extremely careful who we actually placed him with. It is a pity that we have no way of contacting the Nox, they always had an affinity to Doctor Jackson and I am certain they would have taken good care of him."

Nyan turned his head slowly and caught Jack's eye. Jack in turn tugged on Sam's hand until she looked up and locked eyes with him. Without anyone saying a word she nodded, "General, we'll take him."

Hammond frowned. "Major Carter, this is not a decision to be made on the spur of the moment. Doctor Jackson may be inside that little boy somewhere but above anything he's an emotionally disturbed child with language issues and special needs."

"I'm sorry, Sir, but I have to disagree," Jack interjected. "The most important point is that he is Daniel. Yes, he's a Daniel with some...big issues...but he's Daniel none the less. If he's got even a tenth of the mental capacity of our original Dannyboy then he'll pick up English faster than anyone could imagine and then probably a selection of other languages not long after that. If it turns out that the specialists find they can't fix his eyes then...well we'll deal with that if it comes to it. Sir, General...George, you can't send him away."

Sam continued where Jack had left off. "You yourself agreed that he's only comfortable with me or Nyan. There's really no other option, Sir. The Jaffa have no experience at dealing with disabled children and most of the worlds that we've befriended are far less developed than ourselves. Daniel needs to be on a developed world so that his problems can be properly monitored and dealt with. Sir, he needs to be here, on Earth, with people who love him."


	84. Chapter 84

~#~ (Chapter 84)

A hush fell over the room as Sam finished her impassioned plea to the General.

"I'll take that into consideration," Hammond replied eventually. "Wherever he ends up the boy will be staying here for at least another couple of weeks anyway so nothing needs to be decided immediately and I will be speaking to both of you, in depth, before I make any final decisions. Now I can safely say this has been one of the most disjointed debriefs that we've ever held here at the SGC but I think we've covered most of the things that we set out to. Does anyone have any questions before I let you leave?"

"I do, Sir, there's something I don't get," said Griff. "Why does Nyan smell of home? The way I'm understanding it the boy has no memories of any description and that's why he can't speak English? He obviously remembers things or he wouldn't know what 'home' smelt like...mind you it's typical of Doctor Jackson to call his office home."

Janet stepped forwards to answer. "I truly believe that the boy...Doctor Jackson has no long term memories at present. His short term memory appears to be fine though. Without fail he has remembered who both Nyan and myself are as well as where he is and what's happened to him in the last few days. It has already been pointed out that it looks hopeful that his long term memories are there, just currently inaccessible. If any one thing could draw out his memories then I would expect that to be the olfactory system because the sense of smell is intimately linked with the memory centres in the human brain. That's why, for example, you catch the scent of some flowers in the park and become deluged with memories of being hugged by your grandmother when you were a child. I think it's the same sort of thing that's happening to Daniel when he's in close contact with Nyan. It would be logical to expect that Nyan would exude a familiar smell to Daniel seeing as he spends all his time either in Daniel's old office and lives in what used to be Daniel's house."

Both Griff and Pierce raised their eyebrows at this and looked at one another.

"I take it neither of you knew that Doctor Bedrosan had moved into Doctor J's house then?" Lou asked from his seat beside Pierce. When they both shook their heads he chuckled, "Man, you two really need to start listening more carefully to the scuttlebutt going around this place."

Reynolds snorted from his spot next to Griff and then composed himself when Janet cast her gaze in his direction.

The doctor looked from Colonel Reynolds to the other three men and shook her head in disbelief before turning back to the General. "I won't even attempt to hazard a guess at what's going on in regards to his speech. The fact that he can speak so well, even if only in the one language, means that both Broca's area and Wernicke's area are working properly. If there had been damage to Broca's area then he wouldn't be able to put together sentences properly and would use incorrect syntax in what sentences he did manage to create. Wernicke's area is used for understanding speech spoken by other people and analysing the syntax that they've used. Correct me if I'm wrong Nyan but he does all that properly? Just like adult Daniel would have done?"

Nyan nodded. "He does," he said, loud enough for Griff and the others to hear at the other end of the table. "The sentences occasionally contain the odd childish word or an odd phrase but apart from that I could be talking to adult Daniel."

"Whether these disturbances to his memories are something that's been done deliberately or...accidentally I currently cannot hypothesise. In the same way, at the moment, I cannot speculate whether it is reversible or not. There may be something blocking his neural pathways, they could have been deliberately severed or, in a worst case scenario, the process that was used to...er...shrink him, could have caused some brain damage which could in turn have disrupted access to the hippocampus - the memory sorting centre of the brain. Once I get a CT scan done on him I'll hopefully have more to go on."

The General looked down the table. "I think that answers your question, Major Griff. Does anyone else have anything to say?"

Major Pierce cleared his throat. "Sir, I have an additional question, probably related to the one that Griff just asked."

The General looked down the table at Pierce who was sitting between Major Griff and Lou Ferretti. "Very well, Major, ask away."

Pierce looked uncomfortably up towards his commanding officer. "There's something I don't get, Sir. The boy is Doctor Jackson, we can see that down in print."

"Yes," the General agreed. "Your point being what?"

"Well, if he really is then why is he clinging to Doctor Bedrosan?" Pierce pointed towards Nyan who had opened the protein drink and was helping An to drink it. "Why isn't he with Colonel O'Neill? Everyone knows that Doctor Jackson and Colonel O'Neill spent most of their free time together, especially since Doctor J came back after his year away so surely the Colonel should smell familiar to him as well. Why, now he's a boy, does he avoid the Colonel? I mean he was the one who got him off that damned ship after all."

"And scared him half to death in the process," Jack piped up. "You weren't up there Pierce. Dan...An...he was asleep when I picked him up. He woke up in a panic, same as he did just now, in a noisy corridor with Teal'c yelling his head off at the Jaffa roadblock that was between us and freedom and I couldn't do a damn thing to calm him down. You saw how he was when the rings dumped us in front of you, that's what he'd been like since he'd woken up. I had no way of communicating with him and we needed to get out of there ASAP so I just kept hold of him - I was hardly going to leave him there now was I?"

Pierce shrugged. "I understand that but I still don't see why he's not with you now he's back here and why you don't want to be with him."

Jack raised an eyebrow and wiggled his neck. "Pierce, did we or did we not just have a discussion with the General about taking Daniel home with us? In what way does that make me not want to be with him?"

Pierce opened his mouth to speak but Jack cut him off.

"For your information it's killing me that he's turned to Nyan instead of myself - that he's put his trust in Nyan instead of me and that I can't understand a word he's saying." Jack turned to the Bedrosian, "No offence Nyan, you're doing a fantastic job with him and I think Danny's in completely the right place at this moment in time."

Nyan nodded. An had finished the drink and was sitting up on the linguist's lap, fiddling with the material around his left hand. He leaned forwards and spoke quietly to the linguist, "_What is the word Danny and why does only Colonel O'Neill use it? No-one else says it. Is it a name?"_

_"Are you studying the words my clever little friend?" _Nyan replied quietly. When An nodded he continued,_ "You are right, Danny is a name. It was the name of one of Colonel...can we call him Jack instead of Colonel O'Neill? Colonel O'Neill is very formal. Danny was the name of one of Jack's oldest friends and I know it sounds strange but you might find him calling you by that name as well sometimes. Would that bother you?"_

An's forehead furrowed as he thought this through._ "Colonel O'Neill...Colonel Jack frightens me," _he said, even more quietly than before._ "...and my name is An, why should he call me something else?"_

_"Colonel Jack? Alright, that works."_ Nyan lifted his hand and stroked the side of the boy's face._ "Oh sweet An, shall I tell you a secret? Colonel Jack frightens me sometimes as well. Things are very complicated in his life at the moment, he is a very complex person and it is difficult for me to explain. I think it is safe to say though that you remind Jack very much of his friend and that he misses him dearly."_

An thought this over. _"Will Colonel Jack shout at me if I do not answer him if he calls me that? It has been nice here not being shouted at and I will let him call me that if it means that he will not shout at me."_

_"It has to be your choice," _Nyan replied gently._ "If you are not happy with answering to Danny then do not think you have to agree to it just to keep other people happy. No-one here will deliberately call you something that you do not like. I would say though that Colonel Jack will probably call you Danny whatever you ask of him. I doubt he will even realise that he is doing it but do not think badly of him, he just really misses his friend."_

_"I think Colonel Jack will do his best not to shout at you at all in case he frightens you again. He does not like that he scared you when he took you from the Ha'tak but he knew that you needed help - that you needed proper food and care and that you were not getting that from the Jaffa. You know yourself that you could not stay aboard the ship forever and that if Osiris had discovered you that you would have been in mortal danger. Colonel Jack really had no other choice but to take the initiative and carry you out against your will." _

An was quiet for a moment._ "I was in danger before I was taken aboard the Ha'tak vessel and I believe I am in a better place now that I am here. I am grateful that he gave me the chance for life but I cannot tell him without your help. I would feel happier if I could identify the other scent that he carries. I feel that I should be able to place it but the fact that I cannot makes me uncomfortable."_

Nyan sighed and risked a glance at Jack who was looking between Nyan and the boy with a quizzical expression on his face.He'd been listening into An and Nyan's conversation and, even though he couldn't understand the rest of it, he could pick out the words 'Danny', 'An' and 'Colonel Jack.' _"You have been through a lot in a very short time, I think it is probably normal that your memories are a bit...mixed up. Hopefully things will become clearer in time. Do you want me to take you to talk to Colonel Jack and Samantha later on? They are staying in a room not far from the one that we got washed and changed in last night and maybe if you spend some more time with them it will help to jog your memory."_

An nodded and then looked worried._ "Will you stay with me?" _he asked.

Nyan's gently pulled the boy down against his chest as he said, _"I've told you, for as long as you need me, I'll be there."_

An reciprocated by wrapping his arms around the linguist and sighing deeply.

Jack tilted his head and sent a silent question towards Nyan who looked over and mouthed 'later' as a reply. Jack shrugged and turned back towards Hammond to find the General, Janet and Sam looking back towards him.

Jack shrugged and then looked up at Teal'c who was still standing guard behind Sam's chair. The Jaffa had a contemplative look on his face as if he was trying to work out a clue in a particularly cryptic crossword puzzle and Jack suddenly realised that his large friend knew exactly what had been said by both the boy and Nyan. Teal'c skilfully avoided meeting Jack's eye and the Colonel realised that he would remain in the dark as to the content of the conversation until he managed to pin down a certain alien linguist and got the details out of him.


	85. Chapter 85

~#~ (Chapter 85)

Hammond once again asked if there were any further questions and when none were forthcoming he declared the debriefing over.

The General sent Griff, Pierce, Reynolds, Bell and Ferretti out of the room while motioning for Teal'c, Jack, Sam, Janet and Nyan to remain. Nyan still had hold of the boy who was tilting his head from side to side, apparently trying to work out who was and wasn't leaving the room.

Hammond waved the others back to their seats once the door had shut behind Lou. "Thank you for staying behind and be assured that I won't take up much more of your time. You five are the people most likely to be affected by the reappearance of Doctor Jackson and I'd just like to give you the opportunity to air any worries that you might have in a more private situation than an official debriefing. Sam, Jack, I know what Doctor Jackson meant to the pair of you but I want you to think long and hard before you make a decision that will undoubtedly turn both of your lives upside down. Whatever happens the boy is going to need a lot of very specialist care and we have to accept the possibility that he may never regain the knowledge of his former self. I do not want the pair of you shouldering the responsibility for him out of some misguided sense of loyalty or due to the fact that you 'owe' it to Doctor Jackson. I saw the look that passed between the two of you earlier but I know you haven't had a chance to actually talk things over with one another. Please, go home...or at least to your room and discuss this - at length. Then...and only then mind, come and talk things through with myself. To adopt a normal, able-bodied child is one thing but Doctor Jackson is neither normal nor able-bodied and to adopt a special needs child is something else entirely. Taking him into your home would bring greater challenges, far greater than those usually wrought by an adopted child."

"Sir?" Janet leant forwards. "If I may interrupt?"

"Certainly, Doctor Fraiser," Hammond replied. "Go ahead."

Janet nodded. "Thank you, Sir. There is no way Doctor Jackson is leaving this base any time soon. He is badly malnourished and I shall be needing to see him every day until I have conclusive proof that he is gaining weight at a level that I am happy with. I've got Doctor Henri Leitzmeier coming to consult with me about his eyes next week so hopefully I'll have something to tell you about that after he's taken a look at Daniel. Other than that I am happy to leave him in the care of either Doctor Bedrosan or Major Carter until such time that I discharge him from my care. I have something else relevant to this though, Sir, regarding the other child we currently have on the base. General, it was only after I thought back on our discussion yesterday that I realised I may have inadvertently caused you to think that I wanted to take the baby, Noya, home with me. Am I right?"

Hammond looked puzzled. "Yes, you would be right in that assumption. I guess by the fact you've brought it up that I am mistaken?"

Janet nodded and opened her mouth to answer but Jack beat her to it. "Yes, Sir," he said quickly. "You see, General, Sam and myself have already discussed the possibility of us having the baby and we've also discussed it with Doctor Fraiser. It seems that even though she can't talk yet she made rather an impression on Sam over on good old P4M-776. We know it'd mean some huge changes - ones that we're gonna have to talk through with yourself, Janet, Lou and probably a whole heap of other people. In no means are we going into this blind, Sir...ooh, bad choice of word...er...in no way at all. Sure the situation with Daniel complicates matters but when has anything ever been simple where the SpaceMonkey's concerned? Also, with your permission, Sir, neither me nor Sam will be setting foot through the gate for the foreseeable future. Saunders is a good man, he can look after things at the Alpha site and I'm damn sure that the Air Force owes Sam at least a couple of weeks of sick leave to get over what she's just been through."

"Jack," Hammond brought him up short by using his first name. "Jack, don't worry, you'll have no arguments from me on that. I am certain we can find you something to be getting along with on the base for the time being. You still have a good grasp of both the Latin and Ancient languages, am I correct?"

Jack nodded with a confused frown on his forehead. "Yeees," he drawled out slowly, unsure as to where this was leading.

Hammond nodded slowly as if to say 'trust me, Jack, I know what I'm doing.' "And am I also right in thinking that no-one in your direct line of command at the Alpha site speaks the Goa'uld language?"

"As far as I know, no, Sir, they don't." Jack now looked baffled.

"It was very remiss of me to have not noticed that before but it is something that I plan to resolve. Colonel O'Neill, I hereby formerly request that you attend a training course in the spoken language of the Goa'uld. I estimate that it will take at least a couple of weeks to complete the course so please, do not expect to be returning to your post at the Alpha site within the next fourteen days. I will review your progress after that time and shall be discussing it with the linguistic department. If they feel the need, an extension to your training time could be made available. Doctor Fraiser, how long a recovery time are you expecting for Major Carter? She still looks extremely pale, do you thing a fortnight would be long enough?"

Janet knew exactly what the General was doing and played along. "Hmmm," she said, tapping her pen on her pursed lips as she hummed. "I'd recommend that Major Carter takes it easy for at least that length of time, Sir. I don't believe there's any need to confine her to base but I shall be requesting regular checkups to ensure that she is recovering from her confinement. I retain the right to rescind her freedom at any point during those two weeks if I believe the Major to be pushing herself too hard and may be forced to continue to monitor her for longer than the allocated fourteen days if she is still showing signs of trauma."

Jack and Sam both smiled. Teal'c looked vaguely puzzled, Nyan hid a smirk by burying his face in An's hair and the General looked satisfied. "Very good, doctor, I understand. Major Carter is an important member of this establishment and I am gratified to see that she is receiving the utmost in quality care, as usual."

Jack nodded his thanks to his commanding officer who inclined his head in acknowledgement. "I mean it, Jack. If there's any chance that Doctor Jackson might eventually go home with you then you at least need to be able to communicate and at the moment he is a little boy who speaks no English. We don't know if he still has the same aptitude for languages that he did before he was changed and I think it only fair that you at least try and meet him half way. Doctor Bedrosan, if you could see about teaching Doctor Jackson at least the rudimentary elements of the English language it would be a great help."

Nyan nodded. "General Hammond, Sir. Would you also allow me to be the one to train Colonel Ja...er...Colonel O'Neill. I believe it would be beneficial if both An and Colonel O'Neill spent some time together. An has expressed a desire to speak to the Colonel and I have already promised him that we will go and speak to him at some point during the day today."

"He has?" Jack's eyes lit up. "Danny actually asked for me?"

An had, until this point, been sitting upright on Nyan's lap unerringly staring sightlessly at Jack. As the Colonel spoke the work 'Danny' however a shy smile came over the boy's face and he burrowed his way under Nyan's arm and mumbled something.

As he listened Nyan flashed a grin at Jack who looked quizzically back in return before hesitantly returning the smile.

"What," he asked. "What'd he say?"

Nyan smiled again and patted the back of An's head which was now immovably wedged between the Bedrosian's arm and his chest. He muttered something to An who nodded and started to draw the blanket up to cover the back of his head. Nyan stopped the movement and the boy soon gave up.

Jack raised his eyebrows in a silent repeat of his question. 'What'

Nyan looked down at An and then back up at Jack before replying. "We were having a little discussion earlier about the word 'Danny'. An...Dan...Doct...ugh...An had noticed earlier that only you say it and he asked what it meant. I told him that it was a name of one of your oldest friends and at the same time I warned him that you would probably call him it by mistake sometimes as well. At the time he didn't seem to like it - told me that his name was An and that he couldn't understand why you'd call him your friend's name. Needless to say that was a bit awkward but he eventually decided that you could call him Danny..." Nyan paused and winced "...as long as you didn't shout at him or scare him again. It was after that that he told me that he wanted to tell you he was grateful that you rescued him from the Ha'tak but also said that there was something about your smell that he couldn't place and it was making him uncomfortable."

Jack immediately placed his nose down to his armpit and sniffed, then looked back at Nyan and shrugged. "Should I know how to answer that?" he asked.

"No, you shouldn't," the Bedrosian replied. "He doesn't know what it is...or isn't...so there's no chance anyone else is going to be able to work it out. He might get there eventually and if he does then I'm sure we'll all find out pretty soon after that. If he doesn't...well, I guess we'll never know."

Jack shrugged and then realised that they had got diverted from his original question. "Okay but what was with the smiling, back there, a moment ago?"

"NyanBedrosan, may I answer that question on your behalf?" Teal'c asked suddenly from his spot behind Sam. This made Sam, Nyan and An jump.

"F...f...feel free, Teal'c," the Bedrosian stuttered as he waved his right arm vaguely in the direction of Jack. "G...go for it."

The large Jaffa inclined his head in Nyan's direction and then looked directly at Jack. "O'Neill, the child formerly known as DanielJackson has decided that he would be amenable to you calling him Danny in the future. I believe it to be an honour not bestowed on anyone else within the SGC, it is purely something that is specific to yourself."

Jack instinctively looked over at the boy who's face was still hidden from view. He then looked back at Teal'c. "Really?" he asked.

"Really," Nyan replied, having resumed his composure. "He can't explain it to me but when you called him Danny just now he said it suddenly seemed right. Teal'c is correct when he says it's only you that's allowed to call him that as well. To everyone else he wants to still be An. He doesn't seem to have worked out that either 'Daniel' or 'Doctor Jackson' are referring to him at all. Everyone has been saying those words so I suppose that they're just blending in with all the other language that he can't understand. 'Danny' stuck out to him in particular because only you, Colonel, use it and you used it frequently during the debrief. Would it be alright if we meet up later on so that he can try to get to know you...again...better? I can give you both your first language lesson at the same time if you'd like."

Jack nodded.

Hammond leaned towards the Bedrosian slightly and said, "Nyan, son, it's more than alright, it's an excellent idea. We still have no way of knowing whether Doctor Jackson is...um...stuck this way permanently or if Doctor Fraiser or one of our allies will discover a way to return him to his original form. Jack, Sam I know I seem to be repeating myself but I need to be sure you are absolutely certain about this. The baby I don't have a problem with, I think the universe owes the pair of you more than a few favours and I'm sure she would herald a new chapter in both of your lives. At present through I do still have reservations over you taking Doctor Jackson at the same time. Would it be fair on either child? If Doctor Jackson remains a youngster then he may well require specialist care for the rest of his life. Are you honestly willing to take on that responsibility along with a young baby?"

Sam and Jack looked at one another and then back at the General. "Yes," they said in unison.

Jack continued, "Sir, both Sam and myself visited Noya last night and had begun to look forward to taking her home, no matter what massive adjustments were going to be made to our working lives. We're not about to turn our backs on her and destroy that dream now that Daniel's come onto the scene but we're not prepared to leave him behind either. Yes, he's got special needs but no, that won't be a problem. General, you know us...would we really jump into something like this on a whim? Daniel can't be sent away, Sir, he's been...well he's been family for years."

"Jack please," Hammond said quietly. "Don't make me out to be the bad guy here. I am not trying to persuade you against taking care of Doctor Jackson, personally I think it would be the best option for all concerned. I am just being wary of the logistics of actually taking him into your family. I wouldn't be doing my job properly if I just let you take him without proper consideration, now would I? I will give you my word that I will monitor the situation for the next couple of weeks and when Doctor Fraiser declares that the boy is strong enough to leave then and only then will I make the final arrangements. The same goes for the baby, there's no way her appropriate paperwork could be arranged any quicker than that and I'm afraid both children are going to have to be confined to base until they have birth certificates and social security numbers. You two," Hammond pointed first to Sam and then to Jack, "Officially Major Carter will be on medical leave and Colonel O'Neill will be in training however you need to use the next fortnight getting together all the paraphernalia appropriate for the care of a five month old baby girl and...well it wouldn't hurt to get together some things for a five year boy while you're at it."

Jack breathed a sigh of relief and hugged Sam tightly, Hammond had just given them the go ahead that they had been hoping for. No matter how hard the General had pressed them both Jack and Sam knew he only meant well and without actually saying the words he'd also more or less told them that Daniel would be coming home with them at the end of the fortnight as well as baby Noya.

Hammond rose to his feet. "Dismissed people."


	86. Chapter 86

~#~ (Chapter 86)

The next few days passed as a blur for Jack and Sam. Sam spent most of her time either with the baby or outside of the mountain attempting to make Jack's house liveable again. Before then she had remained in her own little house while Jack had been living on the Alpha site and that had worked out fine for the few nights each month that Jack had stayed on Earth. Her house was far too small for a family however whereas Jack's house not only had room for expansion it also had a small office near to the master bedroom that Sam, with the help of Sergeant Siler, quickly converted into a nursery.

Word had spread like wildfire around the SGC about the fact that Sam and Jack were adopting baby Noya and donations of everything from clothes and furniture to baby-sitters came from all directions. Outside of the people who had been present in the briefing room only a select few trusted people including Niko Isaksson and Sergeant Siler had been told that An would probably be going home with them as well. Although Sam ended up needing to buy virtually nothing for the nursery she had to get almost everything to change the spare bedroom into a room suitable for a small boy. Since the fateful day they had returned from Abydos over seven years before, the spare room in Jack's house had always been known as 'Daniel's room' and Sam shed more than a few tears as she and Siler took out the adult furniture and put it into storage.

In her heart she knew that Jack wouldn't mind the changes that she'd made to the house but made a mental note to warn him that the garage would be out of commission for the conceivable future. Everything that had been taken from the office and the spare room was now stored where Jack's truck should theoretically have been parked every night.

~#~

Jack spent most of his time either in Nyan's office or his VIP room working through the basics of the Goa'uld language with the Bedrosian. He picked it up surprisingly fast and both men were amazed at how much Jack had already known without realising it. Together both the Colonel and the linguist worked to help An start to learn the basics of the English language and to teach him as many of the words that he'd need to use in the coming weeks as possible.

For the first couple of days An was still very reticent where Jack was concerned and refused to communicate with him much of the time until Jack had a breakthrough after arriving early on the morning of the third day.

He knocked on the door of Nyan and An's VIP room and the Bedrosian automatically shouted for him to 'come in' even though he was still helping the boy with his breakfast. Nyan was seated on the bed with An in his usual spot on the his knee but when Jack walked in with a cheery _'Good morning'_ the boy was startled and pushed away the cup that he had been drinking from. The glass of diluted orange juice flew from Nyan's hand in a graceful arc and the shattered as it hit the floor just a couple of inches in front of Jack's boots.

"Hey," Jack spluttered. "What was that for?"

Even thought Jack had automatically spoken in English the pitch of his voice was enough to let An know that the Colonel was displeased and he squirmed around in Nyan's lap until he was almost completely hidden underneath the Bedrosian's right arm.

Jack winced. No matter what he did it seemed that he ended up scaring the boy and he slowly sidestepped around the broken glass and perched himself on the end of the bed.

_"I apologise,"_ he said quietly. _"I…I…_Nyan, help me out here."

Nyan shrugged apologetically. "I am sorry, Colonel O'Neill, don't blame the boy, it was my fault. I should have put the drink down before answering the door."

"It's not your fault Nyan." Jack looked at him quizzically. "And I'm not blaming either of you. It was an accident. It just seems like a bit of an over-reaction to me coming into the room, that's all. I thought we were making pretty good progress past the 'I hate Jack' thing that he had going for a while."

Nyan frowned and attempted to pull An back onto his lap. He gave up when he realised that the boy had grabbed a tight hold of the back of his belt and that he wasn't showing any signs of letting go any time soon. He turned back to Jack, "Has no-one explained to you about the issues An has with food?"

Jack shook his head. "No. It's obviously going to be difficult for him though 'cos he can't see what he's doing."

"An has been punished in the past for making a mess when he eats or drinks," the linguist explained. "...and he does, he makes a phenomenal mess. I have no idea if it's normal, if it is because he cannot see or if it's just...well...him. We only eat in here or in my office and I have to help him with everything. He will not even allow Doctor Fraiser to watch and I am certain that he still expects me to leave him if he makes a mess. I have to let Doctor Fraiser know what he's had and roughly how much and that seems to be acceptable to everybody concerned."

"Well it's not acceptable to me," Jack said quietly. "If he stands any chance of getting out of here at the end of next week then he's going to have to at least let me, if not Sam as well, help him." He scrubbed his right hand through his hair while resting his left hand on An's knee as this was the only part of the boy that was accessible. A sudden thought struck him and he asked, "Do you make him use adult sized everything?" Jack untangled his hand from his hair and waved it at the breakfast tray perched near the head of the bed. "Forks, spoons...everything? And glass? Does he always use a glass?"

Nyan looked confused. "Um, I don't understand, Colonel. The utensils are delivered from the commissary with the food. What else would I use?"

"He's a child, Nyan," the Colonel explained gently. "Even if he is really Daniel. At the moment he...he...well he's still just a little boy, with a big emphasis on the word 'little'."

"I know that," Nyan replied in a shaky voice. "I am well aware that he's a child. Who do you think has been with him every single minute of every day for the last four days? I'm doing my best, Colonel and I'm sorry if that's not good enough for you. Oh and if you're trying to make some other point then you're failing miserably." He reached down and gave another tug on An's arm. The boy relinquished his hold on the belt and allowed himself to be pulled into Nyan's lap. The Bedrosian hugged him tight and he turned his head unerringly in Jack's direction wearing such a close approximation of Daniel's 'eat sh!t and die' look that the Colonel shuddered and sucked in a sharp breath.

'Damn it, I'm on a roll today,' he thought. 'I scared Danny just by entering the room and now I've p!ssed him off by reducing Nyan to tears - all in the space of ten minutes. Oy.'

He held his arms out in front of him in a placating gesture. "Nyan, Nyan please, don't get upset. I didn't mean that the way it sounded. You're doing a great job with him, it's just that...I don't know the best way to describe it...OK, right, there's specialist kiddie-sized equipment available here on Earth that you may not even be aware of. I doubt there's ever been any reason for you to go down the mother and baby aisle of your local Wal-Mart while you've been here. There hasn't, has there?"

Nyan shook his head. "No, I can't say I have. Why ever would I want to? And why's that relevant to me...him...us?"

"Danny's just demonstrated exactly why little boys should not be drinking from glasses and I'm thinking you might find half the problem with his eating may be caused by having to use 'grown up' cutlery. Nyan, are you OK?"

Nyan nodded his head, shook it and then shrugged and buried his face in An's baby-soft hair with a quiet "'m just tired."

Even though the Colonel was making such headway in the one language that the boy actually spoke. His preference was to remain in constant contact with Nyan at all times and if this wasn't possible then the Bedrosian had to keep up a constant flow of words at all times so that the boy knew where he was. Nyan explained that An had started out each night in his little bed in the VIP room but had woken up in distress every time Nyan had fallen silent. The tired linguist had eventually given in and allowed An to share his bed so that the boy would sleep but this unfortunately meant that Nyan himself got little or no sleep and this was starting to have a draining effect on him.

"Right, enough's enough," Jack announced. "Firstly I'm going to go and do something about child-friendly eating and drinking utensils, then I'm going to come back and, whether he likes it or not, Danny's going to come with me for a couple of hours so you can get some sleep. It's about time he met Noya and with any luck Sam might be there as well." Jack snorted, "It'll be novel seeing her up and about, the only time I've caught up with her for the past few days has been in bed."

Nyan smirked a little at that. "Are you sure you will be alright with him?"

Jack winced and cautiously nodded. "Make sure he knows what's going on - explain it to him while I'm gone. He's OK round me most of the time and he's going to have to start being weaned off you at some point. Now's as good a time as any."

~#~

While Jack was out he called Sam to find out if he needed to buy anything else in particular. Sam had had several people offer her car seats for Noya but as it was a safety item she had felt uneasy about having a second hand one and asked that he buy safety seats for both children.

Jack decided to do the seats first and stopped off at Babies-R-Us where the helpful staff fitted both seats into the back of the truck for him. Noya had a rear facing, space-age-looking seat which could be turned round to face the front when she was bigger. An had a forward facing booster seat with a removable back and due to him being very small for his apparent five years the assistant recommended that the back should be used for several years. While Noya was facing backwards she would be able to see An but he would obviously not be able to see her and Jack vaguely wondered if that was a good combination. Would the two 'chat' nicely to each other or drive each other crazy on long journeys?

~#~

When Jack returned to the mountain he had small-sized cutlery along with plastic plates and bowls. He had popped into Wal-Mart to buy them and also bought a picnic lunch containing lots of things that were easy for little hands to pick up and transfer to tiny mouths. He dropped into his VIP room and sorted everything from the plastic store bags into a more-accessible order in a small rucksack.

Once he was organised he slung the rucksack over one shoulder and went to knock on the door of Nyan's VIP room. He got no reply so headed off to Nyan's office on level eighteen.

~#~

When Jack knocked on the door and was called in he was glad not to be met by a low-flying glass. As he entered the room he found that Nyan was standing beside his desk with a large book in his hand. The linguist smiled and nodded his head in the direction of the couch. As he rounded the corner of the shelves Jack was surprised to see that An was sitting alone on the couch with his blanket. He had his legs tucked up beneath him in a relaxed position and was gently stroking the long brown fur of a small plush dog.

Jack smiled. "Where'd the pooch come from?" he whispered, unwilling to disturb the peaceful scene.

"I have no idea," Nyan replied with a grin. "He...she...it was sitting on my desk when we got here this morning."

"Oh well, I'm sure someone will admit to it at some point," Jack chuckled. "It's not quite what I meant but I've always said that every kid should have a dog..."

At the word 'dog' An smiled and picked up the furry animal and waved it in Jack's direction. "Dog," he said carefully. "My dog."

_"Very good,"_ Jack replied, this time in Goa'uld. "Dog and what...blankie?"

An paused and thought for a moment before holding up his other hand with the blanket in it_. _"Nuggly,"he said, very seriously.

Nyan swallowed a snort of laughter in a cough as Jack replied. "Ah, now that told me. Hello Nuggly."

'Nuggly' was waved in Jack's direction in much the same way as the dog had been, this time accompanied by a cheery "Hello."

"Nyan, what are we teaching this child?" Jack asked, biting his lip to stop himself laughing. _"An, are you hungry? I have brought food."_

An drew both the dog and the blanket in close to himself and looked worried. "No," he whimpered quietly. "Nyan food. No Nyan, no food."

"Yeah, I got that, little guy," Jack replied quietly as he crouched down in front of the couch. He placed his hand gently on An's knee to let him know where he was and then moved it so he could stroke the side of the boy's face. "Nyan needs sleep, An. Jack food, An food, Nyan sleep."

Nyan stepped forwards and crouched beside Jack. _"An, Jack will no more punish you for making a mess than I will. He has some ideas of how to make it easier for you to not make a mess and he really wants to help you so please give him a chance. You have spent a great deal of time with him in the last few days and I am certain that you understand he means you no harm. He will only take you for a few hours so that I can get some rest."_

Jack stilled his hand on An's face and the boy sat completely immobile while he contemplated what the two men had said to him. After a while Jack restarted the gently stroking of him thumb up and down the boy's delicate cheekbone. An stiffened briefly and then relaxed into the caress with a sigh.

"Jack food, An food, Nyan sleep?" Jack whispered, altering the pitch at the end of the statement so that it became a question.

An nodded dopily against Jack's hand, lulled into a feeling of comfort by the movement and warmth of the Colonel's large hand. "Jack food, An food, Nyan sleep."

"Atta boy." Jack smiled as he spoke. "Do you want me to carry you?"

A worried frown appeared on the boy's face. "Nyan?" he queried.

Jack held up a finger to stop Nyan before he translated what Jack had said. "Don't. I need to be able to communicate with him. I just need to phrase it differently. Hmm, now...An, you want up?"

"Up," An repeated and held out his arms, dog, blanket and all, in Jack's direction.

"There you go, you see. Up." Jack grinned triumphantly as he scooped the boy, blanket and dog up off the couch in one easy movement. "Say bye to Nyan," he said and angled the boy towards the linguist.

"Bye Nyan," An replied as he hugged the Bedrosian around his neck. "Sleep now."

"Yes, Nyan sleep now," came the reply. Nyan barely got the end of the 'now' out before he was silenced by a tremendous yawn. "Ooh dear, definitely sleep now."

"I'll give you as long as I can," promised Jack.

Nyan, hiding another huge yawn behind his hand, nodded in reply. "See you later," he replied. "...and have fun."


	87. Chapter 87

~#~ (Chapter 87)

Jack gently pushed An's head down until the boy nuzzled into the crook of his neck. He made sure the dog was safely positioned between their bodies and then wrapped the blanket around An's little shoulders.

"OK," he murmured quietly.

An nodded against his neck. "OK."

Jack picked up his rucksack with his free hand and, somewhat awkwardly, opened the door to Nyan's office before peering outside. The level was surprisingly quite quiet for the time of morning and Jack successfully managed to get to the stairwell without An getting particularly stressed. He was silently glad that Nyan had spent so much time just wandering around the corridors with the boy to get him more used to being around the hustle and bustle that made up base life. It had been agreed early on that An needed to learn how to act around strangers and also, eventually, crowds which terrified the boy and Nyan's hard work and placid nature had quickly started to take effect.

The Colonel and his precious cargo slowly took the stairs to the infirmary level since An had developed a seemingly irrational fear of the elevators. Since the morning of the briefing Nyan had unsuccessfully tried several times to persuade the boy to let him use the elevators. Standing inside with the doors open proved unproblematic but the moment the doors closed and the car started to move An's imagination would conjure up all matter of terrible things and panic would set in. Nyan had temporarily given up then, figuring that there were more important things in life than being able to use the elevators and had taken to using the stairs to travel wherever he needed to go.

~#~

Jack was spotted by one of the infirmary nurses as soon as he stuck his head through the doorway into their corridor and very soon Janet was heading towards him.

"Good morning, Colonel," she said quietly. "Hello, An."

An snuffled something against the skin on Jack's neck while the Colonel gave a cheery reply of "Morning, Doc."

Jack realised that An hadn't emerged from his hiding place and jiggled him up and down a little on his arm "Oi," he said. "Janet said hello."

An wriggled a little and muttered again before Jack felt the little lips against his neck curve up into a smile. He gave the boy another jiggle and then angled his head downwards and, putting on a silly deep voice, murmured in An's ear "Say hello to Janet."

An gave a delighted wriggle so Jack said it again in the same silly voice. A quiet giggle followed this time and Janet was able to see the smile on the boy's lips for a brief second as An hoisted himself up Jack's body and threw his arms around the Colonel's neck with another giggle.

Jack clearly worked out what An was doing in record time as he hugged the boy tight. "Say hello to Janet," he said again. The reply that followed came in the form of a vigorous head shaking.

"Say hello to Janet." This time Jack jiggled An and gave him a gentle poke in the ribs. This elicited a high pitched squeak and a laughed but mumbled 'no' from the boy so Jack did it again, several times, interspersed with quietly mutters of "Say hello to Janet." Finally he wriggled his finger all the way up An's chest and tickled the boy under his left armpit until his head popped up with a cackled shriek of "H…H…Hello Doctor Janet. Jack, no. No, Jack, no."

Jack replied with another assault on An's armpit. "Yes."

"No," another squeal came from An.

Jack pinched the boy gently around his ribs. "Yes,"

"No." An drastically tried to find purchase on Jack somewhere he could tickle him but gave up and resorted to poking him in the chest with the end of one finger.

Jack gasped in mock horror. "Aargh," he cried. _"You win. I surrender, I surrender." _

An let out a cheer and an almighty giggle and hugged Jack tightly.

Janet shook her head at the antics of the pair. Over the last few days Nyan had proved an excellent caregiver for An but maybe a little of Jack's silliness was just what the quiet little boy needed to start to come out of himself a bit more. The Colonel was clearly willing to push the boy's boundaries and Janet had the feeling he would do it in a careful enough way that An wouldn't think anything of it.

Janet's eyes met Jack's and she smiled to herself at the gentle, doting look that she saw there. "And just what can I do for the pair of you this…" she stopped and glanced at her watch, "…afternoon?"

"Well, we've got a picnic lunch and I was wondered if this here 'little person' was allowed to go up top to eat it," Jack explained. "Same kinda goes for getting Noya a bit of fresh air once Sam gets back. What d'ya reckon, Doc? It's a nice day up there, not too hot, not too cold, decent amount of cloud cover."

Janet smiled. "It's something I was discussing with the General only this morning," she replied. "I know the children will only be here for a few weeks but it would be neither healthy, nor fair, to keep them cooped up for all that time. We know that Noya will have been used to spending a great deal of time outdoors and, at her age, both daylight and fresh air are effectively essential. From what I can ascertain though An has spent little or no time outside and I think that's half the reason he's such a dreadful colour. It would be great for you to spend a short part of each day outside with him, just as long as you're careful and don't let him get too much direct sunlight. Oh and stay close by in case he gets into difficulty."

Jack raised an eyebrow in an enquiry at this and she quickly added, "Until he's introduced to the outside world we have no way of knowing how he's going to react to Earthbound spores. Think Daniel and allergies."

Jack nodded cautiously. "So…we're good to go, as long as we're careful, yes?"

"Yes, Colonel," Janet said, nodding. "You can go with my blessing. I'll tell Sam where you are when she comes in. Oh and Colonel, just so you're aware, I'll be vaccinating both of the children in the morning in preparation for leaving here. Noya has no antibodies against the usual childhood diseases and An…well, he's got traces of some but not at a level that I'd be happy with. I'm still not too sure what happened to him when he was de-aged but it's done…things I wouldn't expect to his blood and all his levels."

"But he's doing OK. Right, Jan?" Jack asked quietly, looking both solemn and worried at the same time. "He's…healthy?"

Janet nodded. "As far as I can tell, yes. He's been underfed and undernourished but we're coping well with that. What have you got in your picnic and did Nyan give you some of his protein drinks? How did you manage to prise them apart by the way? I was beginning to think that someone had surgically attached them together at some point the last three days."

Jack shucked the rucksack off his shoulder and handed it over to Janet for inspection. "Sorry, no drinks, Doc. Don't know if Nyan didn't have any left or whether he was just too out of it to think about them." Jack chuckled and shifted An slightly on his arm. "That's the main reason Titch is with me. I don't think ol' Nyan's had the sum total of a whole night's sleep since he took over caring for this little guy and to be honest this morning I kinda upset him and figured he needed a break so…here we are. My selection of food to your satisfaction there, Jan?"

Janet looked up from where she was rummaging through the rucksack. "Yes, Colonel and I have to say I'm impressed. You put a lot of thought into this didn't you?"

"Yeah," Jack nodded. "Did wonder if I'd got a little carried away at one point but I reckon most of it'll last a couple of days if we put what we don't use in the fridge."

Janet nodded, rezipped the bag and held one of the handles out so Jack could put his arm through it. Once he had it settled Janet stepped along the corridor and opened the door to ISO 2. She had a brief word with the nurse, Mollie, who was sitting with the baby and then held the door open so that Jack and An could pass through it.

Once they were in the room she told Jack that she'd return shortly with some of the protein drinks for An and left them in peace.

~#~

Janet gave them about half an hour before she returned to the ISO room with An's drinks. She was greeted at the door by Mollie who placed a finger to her lips in a request that Janet be quiet when she entered the room.

As she passed through the doorway Janet could see why Mollie had felt the need to warn her. Had she not been told then she would have certainly have let out a loud sigh, probably followed by a lot of girly gushing noises.

Colonel O'Neill, supposed bad-ass and Goa'uld butt-kicker extraordinaire, was sitting on floor with his back against the comfy armchair that Mollie and Jo sat in when they gave Noya her bottles. Noya was lying low in the crook of Jack's right arm and he was feeding her a bottle with his left hand. An was cuddled up with his blanket between Jack's legs and his back was supported by the raised knee of the Colonel's left leg. 'Dog' was sitting on Jack's outstretched right knee and, as Janet squatted down in front of them, she noticed that one of An's fingers had been captured by the baby and that he was delicately stroking the back of her hand with his thumb.

"You look right at home there, Colonel," she whispered. "I've brought An's drinks. You've obviously got your hands full, where's the bag and I'll put them in for you?"

Jack smiled and motioned with his head towards the table on the other side of the room. "Over there, Doc and…thanks. This one's nearly finished with her bottle and then I think she's probably about ready for a little nap. Once she's done, me and the mini-man will go and have our picnic."


	88. Chapter 88

~#~ (Chapter 88)

Noya was very drowsy by the time she had finished her milk. Jack put the bottle on the floor beside him and rocked her gently, quietly whispering nonsense until she was completely asleep. Janet, who had moved back towards Mollie and the door, crept towards them but Jack waved her away and gently lifted An to his feet. He placed 'dog' in the boy's arms, shuffled around until his knees were underneath him and, using the chair for leverage, slowly rose to his feet.

Once Jack was upright An fisted a hand in the soft material of the Colonel's pants and Jack rested a reassuring hand on his head. He gently pointed the boy in the direction of Noya's crib and the pair slowly crossed the room so Jack could put the baby into her bed.

~#~

Jack successfully put Noya down and covered her up to her chest with a thin blanket. He leant over and placed a soft kiss on her forehead before straightening up and then crouching down next to An who had grasped hold of one of the rungs on the crib and was stood with a worried expression on his face.

An shook at the bar he was holding. "_Cage_, Jack," he said, with a wobble in his voice. "_Cage_."

Jack carefully prised the little fingers off the rung and moved An further towards the head of the crib. He then pushed the liberated little hand between the bars until the end of An's fingers met with the soft cotton sleepsuit that covered Noya's shoulder. An instinctively began stroking the material and gently followed it until he made contact with the warm skin on Noya's neck.

"Noya safe, An. Noya asleep," Jack said quietly.

An still looked worried. He pulled his hand out from between the bars and pressed it hard against the side of the crib. "_Cage_," he said again.

"Hey there little guy, I don't know for definite what you're saying but I get the gist of it. Noya is safe, An, I promise." Jack paused and thought for a moment. "I know," he said and, patting An's shoulder, he slowly stood up.

Jack turned An around until the boy was facing him and lifted him gently onto his right arm. He then turned to face the crib and lowered An until he could reach the bar that ran across the top of the rungs. "Here," he said and pressed the palm of An's right hand against the bar. He slid their joined hands along the bar until they met the end of the crib and repeated the manoeuvre for all four sides. Once they were back to where they started Jack took their hands off the crib and lowered An slowly downwards until his fingertips were, once again, resting against Noya's shoulder.

The moment An's fingers touched the soft material he let out a sigh. "Noya," he whispered, followed by a quietly uttered "Jack, up."

Jack lifted him back out of the crib and hugged him tight. "OK now?" he asked.

An nodded as he replied. "Noya safe, Jack."

Jack smiled and then remembered that An couldn't see him so he ruffled the boy's hair. "Yes. Noya asleep. Noya safe, An safe."

An nodded again and leaned into Jack's chest. As he did so his stomach grumbled and Jack let out a chuckle. "Noya asleep, now An and Jack go eat food. Good?"

An's answer was to snake his right arm around Jack's chest and burrow in closer to the Colonel's T-shirt.

Jack turned to where Janet and Mollie were standing by the door. Both women were watching him with doting expressions on their faces. "Not a word," he said. "Not a single word."

~#~

Jack jiggled An around until the boy was perched on his left arm and was grateful when Janet scooted across to him and held the rucksack out so he could slip his right arm through one of the handles.

"Thanks, Jan," he said and then stunned both the doctor and himself by bending down and placing a soft kiss on her right cheek. He stood back to full height with a slightly bewildered look on his face and then shook himself as he thought 'oh well, what the hell.'

Janet smiled. "I'll tell Sam where you are," she said. "Now go, before you get yourself in trouble."

Jack didn't need telling twice. A grinning Mollie Fountain opened the door as he approached and he slipped through with a mumbled "Thanks." He heard the two women burst into hysterical laughter as the door closed behind him and he shook his head as he set off down the corridor away from the ISO room and the infirmary.

~#~

Jack's legs were aching by the time he finally walked out into the open air at the top of the mountain. It had been a long time since he'd had to use the stairs to climb out of the bowels of the mountain and his knees were letting him know how much they disliked the idea.

"Phew ee Little Munster. I'm all puffed out," he said, poking An under the ribs and making him squirm. "We have sooo got to work on you and elevators. I'm tired and hungry so let's find a nice place to sit and eat, shall we?"

An clearly didn't understand everything Jack was saying but was happy to let the words wash over him. "Hungry, tired, eat," he repeated the words he knew. He paused and thought for a moment and then added "sit."

~#~

Jack wandered up the tree-lined dirt path that lead away from the base and soon realised that he was heading for the clearing where Daniel's memorial stone stood. Jack thought back and worked out that he hadn't been to visit the clearing for over a month. He had been to pay his respects before gating back to the Alpha site at the end of his and Sam's vacation but since the rescue on Chamaka and the subsequent return to Earth, things had been too hectic for him to make it back up there.

When he arrived at the clearing Jack paused and leant against a tree, unsure as to whether to take the boy up to the stone across the well-known patch of grass.

Jack felt movement in his arms and he looked down to see An slowly moving his head from side to side. He stood and watched for a while before he finally realised that An was enjoying the feel of the warm sunlight on his face. The boy would turn one cheek towards the sun, pause for a while and then rotate his head so the other cheek was treated to the same glowing warmth.

That made Jack's decision for him and he pushed off from the tree and stepped onto the soft green grass of the clearing. He made his way to the stone and placed his hand reverently on top of it like he'd done countless times before. He then lifted his hand from the stone and placed it lovingly on An's blonde head.

"Ah, Danny," he said quietly. "I've spent many a quiet hour sitting here talking to you but now I don't know if I should be talking to the stone, the sky, or this little guy. I can't believe we left you behind again, we should have just kept digging. God damn penny pinching bureaucrats, thinking they knew best - saying there was no hope for you down there. Well I thank God that someone, somewhere found a way to save you. Whether you were…dead again or…maybe not quite gone, someone fixed you up…rebuilt you in this tiny form and then, for whatever reason, handed you over to Ba'al to play with. I don't care what anyone says, that's just wrong. I can only imagine that no-one realised just what they'd got their hands on when they rejected this mixed-up, mini version of you. Ba'al's a twisted bas…" Jack stopped and looked down at An who was resting peacefully against his chest. The boy had clearly picked up on Jack needing a moment to himself and was being as quiet and still as he possibly could.

Jack pressed a kiss onto his forehead and cleared his throat before continuing. "Ba'al…he's a twisted basket case and there's no way he'd've let you go if he'd've known just who he had. I'm sure you being a child wouldn't have stopped him trying to get everything that he could out of you. You and me both know he doesn't give up his playthings easily…" Jack petered to a halt as a single tear escaped from his left eye and splattered onto the big block of stone. He shrugged off the rucksack and dropped it to the floor with a thud. He then dragged An upwards until he could press his large and slightly bristly cheek against An's tiny, soft one. As he went to speak again Jack noticed that his mouth was now level with An's left ear.

"…and I promise," he murmured quietly in the ear. "I promise, you hear me? That as long as there's breath in this beat up old body of mine, that he will never, ever get the chance to get anywhere near you again."

An couldn't follow what Jack was saying but he was able to clearly understand the emotions behind Jack's impassioned speech and his actions. With a quiet snuffle he drew both arms up, wrapped them around Jack's neck and buried his head from view. Jack in turn drew the boy in closer, hid his eyes in An's shoulder and sunk slowly to the ground at the base of Daniel's memorial stone.


	89. Chapter 89

~#~ (Chapter 89)

Jack finally managed to regain his composure a long while later. He lowered An into his lap and vigorously scrubbed his eyes to rub away the crunchy, dry remains of his tears.

The boy remained quiet, still and mercifully dry-eyed while Jack sorted himself out. Once the Colonel stopped squirming around beneath him An reached out and rested a hand on Jack's chest with a quiet "Jack, OK?"

This raised a melancholy smile from Jack who patted the boy's head and replied "Yeah, I'm OK. You OK?"

An let out a soft sigh and nodded.

Jack stroked An's hair gently. "Good boy," he said. "We came up here to eat food and your belly was rumbling ages ago. Shall we eat?"

"Eat?" An replied. "Jack food, An food, Nyan sleep, Noya sleep?"

Jack laughed at this. "Exactly. Jack food, An food, everyone else asleep!"

With that he reached around and dragged the rucksack around from where he had dropped it and pulled a blanket out. He lifted An onto his arm and stood up so he was able to spread the blanket out on the ground just in front of Daniel's memorial stone. He then sat the little boy just off centre of the blanket and sat down next to him, close enough that their legs were touching at all times.

"Still OK?" he asked as he pulled plastic plates and tubs of food out of the rucksack.

An nodded. His stomach grumbled and he giggled nervously and licked his lips. "Th…th…thirsty," he said hesitantly. He then started to worry and began to make agitated arm movements as his speech sped up. "N…N…Nyan. Nyan, drink. Nyan, drink. _I make mess, be bad boy. Broke glass and made you shout. No…no…no want do again, y…y...you will send me away."_

Jack started slightly at the sudden rush of panicked, jumbled Goa'uld that he couldn't follow. He wrapped his arms around the boy and pulled him close. "Hey, hey there. Shush shush. You're safe with me. You're frightened of making a mess aren't you? Nyan's told me and I think I've found a solution."

He dug deeper into the rucksack and pulled out a couple of small bottles. All of them were fitted with child-sized plastic sports caps and Jack selected an orange flavoured one as he knew from that morning that An liked the fruity flavour. He rested the others upright against the side of the bag and, with his teeth, removed the anti-leak seal from the orange one and popped the top up so the liquid could come out.

"Here," he said softly as he captured one of An's flailing hands and gently pressed the bottle against the palm. An immediately stopped stock still and brought his other hand up to hold the bottle more securely.

Jack gently tapped An's chin with one finger. "Open up," he instructed.

An slowly opened his mouth and allowed Jack to push the bottle upwards. He balked as he felt the cap against his teeth but when Jack encouraged him to close his lips around the top he did so. Jack then tipped the bottle up slightly and allowed the sweetened fruit drink to trickle into the little boy's mouth.

An let out a squeak of approval as the liquid ran onto his tongue. He pulled his hands and the bottle away from Jack and sucked greedily which made the bottle crumple in on itself as a vacuum was created inside it. When An finally released it from his mouth he was panting slightly and he giggled when the bottle let out a loud 'pop' as it suddenly re-expanded.

"Better?" Jack asked with a chuckle.

An nodded. "Good," he replied. "Good drink."

Jack ruffled his hair. "Attaboy. Now, Jack got good drink aaaaand…" he drew the word out slightly longer than sounded sensible, "Jack got good food."

While An had been drinking Jack had popped the tops off a lot of the plastic containers in his rucksack and had put a little bit of everything on one of the plastic plates just out of An's reach. He reached down, picked up the plate and put it gently on An's outstretched knees.

"Give me the drink," he requested quietly and was silently glad when An reluctantly handed him the bottle. Jack pressed the top down to seal it and rested it against An's hip where he could both feel it and reach it if he wanted more. He then wiped both of An's hands with a wet-wipe before directing one of them downwards and pressing the fingertips against the edge of the plate. "Food," he said. "Safe food. Good food. Eat."

An tentatively moved his fingers across the plate and explored the mini-feast that Jack had prepared for him. All of it was stuff that was clean to pick up, easy to eat and, as Janet had pointed out earlier that day, it was good, healthy stuff. As An run his fingers over each of the items Jack named them for him. Along with a couple of tiny, triangular sandwiches filled with chicken there were a few bits of cold meat, some cherry tomatoes, carrot sticks and strips of pepper, red and green grapes, a little pile of baby corn and another smaller pile of raisins. In his bag Jack still had hidden a couple of packets of different flavoured potato chips, some biscuits and a small selection of candy but he was keeping quiet about them until An had eaten a decent amount of the more-sensible food.

Once he had named everything on the plate he spoke gently encouraged An to eat. The boy worked his way steadily through the food, sampling a little of everything on the plate before making his way back to what were obviously his preferences of the sandwiches, the meat and the sweetness of the little cherry tomatoes.

"Good?" Jack asked, after watching him for a while. "You eat well."

An grinned. "No mess," he said proudly and picked up the drinks bottle once more. Jack grabbed it as he put it to his mouth and, using both of An's hands, showed him how to pop the top so the drink could come out. An drunk his fill and yawned as soon as he pulled the bottle out of his mouth.

Jack yawned in sympathy and removed the plate from An's knee. He dumped the contents into a plastic bag, sealed the top and quickly shoved everything back into the rucksack. As he made to do it up Jack reached in and pulled one of An's protein drinks out along with a bright blue child-sized sports bottle. He then poured the drink into the bottle and rested it against the stone behind him. He reached around the other side and dumped the rucksack out of the way, along with the now-empty protein drink can.

An yawned again. "Sleep?" he asked plaintively.

"Up," Jack replied, scrambling to his knees. "Pee first, then sleep."

An patted the blanket around himself to make sure 'nuggly' and 'dog' were safe and then held his hands up for Jack to lift him from the blanket.

Jack carried the boy over to the edge of the clearing and helped him pee up against one of the large trees that grew there. He then carried him back to the blanket and sat An on his knee as he settled down with his back against Daniel's stone. He cleaned An's hands up with another wet-wipe, wrapped 'nuggly' around him and snuggled the dog in his lap. He then handed An the blue sports bottle of protein drink and requested that the boy should drink what he could and then go asleep.


	90. Chapter 90

~#~ (Chapter 90)

It was an hour or so later that Sam finally collected Noya and set out to try and find the other half of her family. Janet had told her that Jack had gone top-side but further than 'somewhere up on the mountain, but not too far away' she didn't really have much of an idea where they would be.

Sam threw a makeshift diaper bag over her shoulder and balanced Noya comfortably on her right hip as she headed out of the mountain. Noya was dressed in outdoor clothes including a lightweight cotton cap and had a pink baby blanket wrapped around her legs to keep her warm.

First Sam headed towards the training fields that the Air Force had set up so their forces could exercise outside in the fresh air. She cut across the middle of the empty soccer pitch and stopped for a while at the basketball court when she realised that Noya had spotted the large orange ball being bounced back and forth as a fast-paced game was played.

Once Noya had become bored with the basketball Sam set off again. Her next stop was the area where a number of picnic tables were set up although she didn't really think that Jack would have taken An there because it was frequented more by NORAD personnel than by those of the SGC.

Sam was right in her assumption that Jack wasn't there and, after talking to some of the people nearby she was able to establish that he hadn't been there at any time in the last few hours.

"Where do you reckon our silly boys have gone then, eh?" she asked Noya and smiled as the little girl blew a raspberry in reply. "Reeeally?" she said, "Well, yes, I can see your point, however that doesn't help in finding them, now does it?"

She stood at the edge of the tabled area and turned in a slow circle as she sought inspiration. "Oh, he wouldn't have…would he…" she said quietly. She jiggled Noya on her hip. "Come on, little one," she said. "I think I know where they've gone."

~#~

Sam backtracked until she was on the same path that Jack and An had taken a couple of hours before. She knew the way to the clearing containing Daniel's stone like the back of her hand and had been tasked the unfortunate job of retrieving Jack from there on several occasions in the past.

~#~

When she entered the clearing she could immediately see the picnic rug spread out on the ground behind the stone, along with Jack's rucksack sat off to one side. She could see Jack's long jean-covered legs resting on the blanket but other than that both Jack and An were obscured from view.

She skirted the clearing to approach Jack from a position that he could see her from. The many years of serving with the man had taught her to be wary of startling him in any way, in the same way that Janet and the other doctors loathed to have to wake him in the infirmary. She had a feeling that the fact he was caring for a small child might actually make his slightly-paranoid tendencies worse and decided to treat her fiancée with kid gloves until she had scoped out the lay of the land with him.

~#~

As she walked towards the pair it became obvious that, as well as An being fast asleep on his lap, Jack himself had been dosing until mere moments before. His eyes were open and he was watching her but it was clear by the somewhat dopey expression on his face that he still wasn't completely awake.

Sam came to a stop just in front of the blanket and carefully knelt down on it. Jack's left arm was pinned in place supporting An but he slowly reached towards Sam with his right hand. She shuffled forwards until her knees were level with Jack's hips and gently lowered Noya to rest on his right leg. She leant over and gave him a gentle kiss on the lips and then sat back on her haunches in order to lift Noya into her lap.

She lifted the baby and turned her around so she was facing Jack. Unfortunately the moment she was facing the other way Noya caught sight of An and let out a delighted squeal. An woke with a jump and looked puzzled for a moment before he seemed to look straight at her with a quiet call of "Hello Samantha."

Jack smothered a snort at Sam's stunned face. "OK, that was creepy," he chuckled. "An, Noya's here as well."

"Hello Noya," the boy replied and held out his hand out in the general direction of Sam, correctly guessing that the Major still had hold of the baby.

Sam leant Noya forwards until she could grab one of An's outstretched fingers. The Major then worked out that the position she was in was impossible to maintain and deposited the little girl onto Jack's right thigh with her back against Jack's flat belly. Jack immediately wrapped his right arm around Noya's little body and supported her as she sat on his leg.

This move meant that Noya was nearer to An than she had been on Sam's lap and she made the most of the new position by cramming An's captured finger in her mouth and gnawing on it. An let out a whoop and a cackle of "No, no, me no carrot," and both Sam and Jack broke out in big smiles before locking eyes with one another.

It went without saying that life was unpredictable and that no-one knew what the next few weeks would bring but for now this was their ready made family and they were going to soak up every happy moment with it that they could.


	91. Chapter 91

~#~ (Chapter 91)

The little family stayed in the clearing for another hour or so. Jack and Sam talked about what they'd done during the day and just enjoyed spending time with the children.

At one point Jack lowered An from his knee onto the blanket and stood Noya between the boy's legs. Jack carefully held her upright and chuckled when Noya looked very proud of herself and bounced up and down with her knees. An leant forwards and wrapped his arms around the baby girl who immediately stopped bouncing and buried her face against the blanket that was draped over An's shoulder.

The children stayed that way for a long moment, both seeming to enjoy the proximity of one another. Noya had spent her whole life in the company of her brother and three sisters and no-one had considered the possibility that she might miss the closeness of another child. Both Sam and Jack knew that Daniel had been an only child in his original childhood and that he had missed out on the familiarity of a sibling until he had finally been adopted into the eccentric family unit that was SG-1. Daniel and Sam had bonded with one another almost immediately and the then-Captain Carter had soon become like a big sister to the quiet, unassuming archaeologist. Jack had taken on the roll of Daniel's father figure and Teal'c that of a somewhat-sombre Uncle. Over the years both Janet Fraiser and General Hammond had been absorbed into the SG-1 family fulfilling a maternal roll and a grandfatherly one respectively.

The fact that Sam's roll would be changing most out of anyone's was not lost on Jack. He caught her looking wistfully at An several times while she was interacting with both children and vowed to help her all he could as she slowly moved from being Daniel's big sister to being An…and Noya's…Mom.

~#~

All too soon it was time to go back into the mountain and hand the children back over to their respective carers for the evening. Jack and Sam carried them slowly down the stairs until they were eventually back deep within the confines of the SGC infirmary.

Noya had no problems with going back to Mollie although Sam teared up when it came to actually handing the little girl over. Jack wrapped his free arm around her shoulders and gently encouraged her to walk with him towards the VIP room where Nyan was staying with An.

As they reached the door of Nyan's room Jack stopped and pulled Sam close for a one armed hug.

"You coming in?" he asked quietly and he wasn't surprised when he felt Sam shake her head against his chest. "OK," he agreed and kissed the top of her head. "You going to our room?"

A nod was the only reply this time and Sam soon extracted herself from Jack's embrace and slowly walked down the corridor, headed for their room.

Jack was silently glad that Sam chose not to come into Nyan's room with him when the handing over of An turned out to be somewhat more traumatic than that of Noya. After reluctantly agreeing to be taken from Nyan that morning An had spent the day in close contact with Jack and had found that the Colonel had been nothing but gentle and kind to him. During the afternoon he had developed a great deal of trust for Jack and became most distressed when it came to leaving him.

Jack and Nyan both reminded An that his bed was in Nyan's room and promised that the Colonel would be along to visit first thing in the morning. Nothing seemed to pacify the child though and eventually a tearful, clining An had to be prised from Jack's arms by Nyan.

"Be good, little one," he murmured quietly and gave An's fair hair a gentle ruffle before turning and leaving the room, dropping the rucksack containing An's new drinking bottles, the plastic plates and child-sized cutlery on the floor near to the door as he passed through.

~#~

Jack hurried down the corridor and then quietly opened the door into his and Sam's room. Sam was lying fully clothed on the bed facing away from the door. Her hastily toed off footwear was on the floor by the door and Jack wriggled out of his boots and left them neatly by Sam's much smaller shoes.

Careful not to startle Sam, Jack climbed onto the bed beside her. As he slid his arm beneath her she wriggled around, buried her face in the soft cotton covering Jack's chest and wrapped her arms around him.

Jack caught the glimmer of tears in Sam's eyes as she hugged him close and he placed a gentle kiss upon her hair.

Sam sniffed, let out a little giggle and then mumbled a muffled "Sorry" into Jack's T-shirt. "It's just…just…"

"Shhh," he whispered softly. "It's all a bit much this week isn't it. All sort of…up in the air. It's hard giving the littl'uns back but everything'll be OK soon enough. Give it a couple of weeks and we'll be a proper family at last. I know it's going to take some getting used to, especially for you but we'll be in our own home with our own kids and I'm going to be with you 100% of the way. OK?"

Sam sniffed again before replying. "OK," she said in a croaky voice. She cleared her throat and tried again, pulling back from Jack's chest slightly to look in his eyes as she spoke. "I love you, you know that don't you?"

Jack just smiled before leaning down and capturing Sam's lips in a gentle kiss. "I love you too," he said quietly. "And in a couple of weeks time the two of us are going to have two gorgeous little children to raise as our own."

Sam smiled at this. "You're going to spoil them, aren't you," she asked with a grin.

"Too right I am," Jack said and chuckled. "I'll deny it if you tell anyone else though. It's not good for my big, bad Col…er…my big, bad and soon-to-be-retired Colonel image."

"No," Sam agreed. "I don't suppose it does. Mind you, me and most of the mountain already know that the big-bad Colonel is really just a big softy at heart, especially where kids are concerned."

Jack opened his mouth to reply just as Sam's stomach gurgled. Jack gently rubbed the shirt covering Sam's flat belly and then sat himself up before swinging his legs off the bed. Once he was balanced he pulled Sam up off the bed and announced that it was time to eat.

~#~

Both Jack and Sam were tired from the emotions of the day and retired to their VIP room not long after eating. The pair lay in bed talking quietly for several hours before curling up together and finally falling asleep.

Their peace lasted until exactly 0232 the following morning when Jack awoke to a commotion occurring in the corridor beyond their door.

Careful to avoid waking Sam he slipped out of bed and snicked open the door. As he stepped outside he had to step back in a hurry to avoid being crashed into by a dishevelled looking Nyan who was hurrying towards him with a wailing An writhing in his arms. Without thinking Jack reached out and plucked the boy from the arms of the Bedrosian and cuddled him tight against his chest. An immediately stopped wailing and snuggled shamelessly into Jack's warmth with a loud sigh.

Several doors had opened up and down the corridor and, despite the fact he was only wearing a sleep rumpled T-shirt and well-worn sweat-pants Jack pulled himself to full height, informed everyone that there was nothing to see and ordered them to return to their beds.

Once the last door had closed Jack backed into his own room and beckoned for Nyan to follow. The Bedrosian bent down and retrieved the blue baby blanket from where it had fallen to the floor and followed the Colonel into the room.

"Nyan?" Jack hissed loudly once the door closed behind them. "What the hell happened?"

Nyan took several deep, calming breaths before replying. "Colonel O'Neill, sir, I am truly sorry," he said. "Once An had eaten his dinner and had his shower I put him to bed as usual. As you know he is very reluctant to sleep on his own, preferring to sleep in the bed with myself."

"Yes, I know that," Jack replied. "What was different this evening?"

"Well," Nyan continued. "As I said, I put him to bed like usual and for once he fell asleep almost straight away. Even thought the fresh air probably did him the world of good I guess it must have worn him out."

Jack nodded. "I agree. It's not been healthy for him - cooped up down here like he has been."

"Yes, yes, I realise that. After you left this morning I slept for several hours and then caught up on much of my work that had been put on one side while I have been looking after An. It was only once you returned him to me that I realised I did not take the time to shower while I was unaccompanied. Well I decided that I would take the opportunity to shower seeing as he was peacefully asleep."

"I think I can see where this is going," Jack murmured, shaking his head and adjusting his hold on the dead-weight of the now-sleeping five-year-old boy.

"I left the door open so that I would hear him if he stirred," Nyan explained. "…but unfortunately he awoke very soon after I had rubbed the shampoo into my hair and I was unable to get to him immediately. I tried calling out to him but he moved from his bed to mine and had worked himself into a panic before I was able to grab a towel and reach him. I reached out to comfort him and, even though I was speaking to him, he screamed at me and tried to push me away. I am uncertain if he was truly awake or if he was trapped within a dream at that point but nothing I did seemed to calm him down, he just cried and cried. Eventually I dressed myself, picked him up and brought him to you for help. I am sorry but I didn't know what else to do. He hasn't been like this at night before."

The Bedrosian jumped as a gentle hand patted his arm. An's yelling had woken Sam as soon as Jack opened the door to the corridor and she had silently crossed the room to where the two men were talking. "Don't worry, Nyan. You did the right thing," she said softly. "Why don't we keep him for now? You go and get some sleep. We'll look after An. I'll come with…" Sam stopped and looked down at her thin cotton pyjamas. "Oh...just wait a minute, OK?"

Nyan nodded vaguely and then looked a little lost. Jack lifted An further up his body and nodded to Sam who scuttled off towards the bathroom, grabbing her clothes off the back of the chair as she went.

~#~

A couple of minutes later a more suitably attired Sam emerged from the bathroom to find Nyan sitting on the chair beside the bed talking to Jack who, complete with his armful of slumbering child, had sat down on the bed and was propped against the headboard.

"Hey Sam," Jack said with a smile as she approached them. "We've been discussing what happened this evening and we reckon this one…" he waved his right hand vaguely over An even though it was obvious to both Nyan and Sam who Jack was talking about. "We reckon he wasn't properly awake when Nyan got out of the shower to go to him and remember how much significance An puts on the sense of smell?" Sam nodded. "Well Nyan says he was still pretty well lathered up with shampoo when he tried to cuddle him. Not only would he have smelled of soap and shampoo he was also wet and wrapped in a towel."

Nyan ducked his head and flushed red. "I didn't think," he said quietly. "At the time I was so intent on calming him down that I didn't consider he may not recognise me - I am so used to speaking to him to identifying myself. I believe that I inadvertently upset him more than he already was and for that I feel truly guilty."

Sam squatted down in front of the Bedrosian. "Nyan, you can't blame yourself," she told him. "Looking after An is never going to be quite like looking after any other child on the face of this or…any other planet. Quite apart from the fact that he's blind, I think he's got a right to be more than a little confused. He's been kept locked up for…well, I don't know how long…but locked up on a ship with little or no food, care or attention. He was afraid for his life before we even got involved and disrupted his life further and beyond that, beyond anything else we've got to remember that somehow, somewhere, buried way down deep within that scared and bewildered little boy is the remains of a thirty-eight year old man - my best friend in the world and one who I've thought about every single day since he was taken from us. Whatever happens, no matter how difficult he is to care for and the problems that he - and we - may face, he's coming home with us and he'll stay with us for as long as he needs to. If that's the rest of our lives then so be it."

Sam stopped and turned away before the tears fell from her eyes, ending up with her head resting against the bathroom doorframe while she composed herself. Nyan attempted to stand in order to go and comfort her but was stopped by Jack's hand on his arm.

With An still plastered against his chest the Colonel slid himself from the bed and crossed the room to where Sam was standing. He slowly turned her around until her head was rested in the crook of his neck. He peppered her head with gentle kisses and murmured quietly to her as she gradually calmed herself down.

Eventually Sam emerged from her safe-haven in Jack's arms and, with a smirk, wiped her eyes on the sleeve of his grey, Air-Force T-shirt.

Jack rolled his eyes. "Humph, is nothing sacred any more?" He nodded from Sam to An and back again before he spoke again. "Between the two of you I'm never going to be clean again."

He bent Sam's head back and gave her a gentle kiss on the lips before allowing her to pull away from him and move back towards Nyan. The Bedrosian was looking anywhere but at Sam and Jack and appeared to be trying to make himself as small and unobtrusive as possible. This was a trick that adult Daniel had perfected in the early years of his life and had never quite grown out of. Jack experienced a waft of melancholy when he realised that Nyan was exhibiting yet another similar trait to his deceased…or not so deceased as it turned out…friend.

Nyan lifted his head towards Sam when she finally stood in front of him. "Nyan, let's go and get some things for An then we can all go back to bed," she said. "I'm thinking we don't need to worry about his little bed for now, An seems to be pretty settled where he is now. Maybe tomorrow we can get it moved in here…if that's OK with you that is?"

Nyan nodded and briefly started to look upset. "I think that it may be for the best. I didn't mean to scare him, really I didn't."

Jack frowned briefly. "Don't start that again," he ordered. "Recriminations, blame, guilt, all finished, done, finito, over. Got it?"

Nyan stared at his feet. "Got it," he replied and allowed Sam to take his arm and drag him out into the corridor.

~#~

"Nyan, are you OK?" Sam asked once they reached the sanctuary of Nyan's VIP room. "You've been very quite since we left the others."

Nyan shrugged and his gaze wandered around his little room. "Oh, don't worry, I'm just being silly. It's just...I've known all along that I was going to have to let him go…hand him over as it were, but I didn't realise it would hurt so badly when he finally left me and I certainly didn't expect to have to be handing him over because he was scared of me."

"He's not going far, Nyan," Sam reminded him. "And despite the fact you think he's frightened of you now I'm certain he'll be fine with you again once he's properly awake and aware. Don't forget as well that you're still going to be needed to continue his English lessons and Jack's Goa'uld tutoring and it's not like we're going to be taking him a million miles away any time soon."

Nyan smiled at this. "I know and I have to admit that I'm enjoying teaching the pair of them. Maybe in a way it is a good think that you and the Colonel will be taking over An's care. If nothing else it will force him to have to learn English faster. I know I tend to speak to him in Goa'uld just because it is simpler that way. I can't see the Colonel doing such a thing, even if he could."

"Me neither," Sam admitted. "I'm sure that Jack thinks that the whole galaxy should speak English as a matter of principle. I suppose it would make life easier in some ways but I don't suppose you think about it like that do you?"

Nyan shook his head. "Not really. I've grown to love the study of different languages almost as much as I love studying the past. There's also the point to be made that if you could do something that made everyone miraculously speak perfect English from a particular moment in time if you visited any number of planets in the future there would be variations in the speech patterns and eventually in the words themselves. Different language would evolve dependent on the conditions on each particular planet and…I'm sorry, I'm rambling. You don't want a lecture at," Nyan paused and fished his watch out of the pocket of the jean's that he'd hurriedly dragged on before taking An to Jack. "Ooh, I hadn't noticed how late…er…how early it was. You'll want to be getting back."

He started off across the room and began pulling clothes from the cupboard where he kept An's things.

Sam followed and stopped him with gentle touch on his arm. "Nyan stop. We only need a couple of things for tonight. A change of clothes for the morning and the bag with his drinks and stuff."

While Nyan got some clothes together Sam looked round. She quickly found Jack's rucksack tucked under the bed and she retrieved An's blue drinking bottle from the bedside table. Nyan handed over the clothes and she added them to the bag along with the fluffy dog which she fished out from underneath An's bed. Lastly she sent Nyan into the bathroom for An's toothbrush which she wrapped in a clean facecloth and slipped it down one side of the bag before she pulled the draw string at the top of the rucksack shut and snapped the straps closed with a flourish.

She bid Nyan a 'good rest of night' and left the Bedrosian alone with his thoughts.

~#~

As she approached the room she was sharing with Jack she slowed and carefully pushed the door open so as not to disturb An if he was still sleeping in the room beyond.

She stepped into the room, closed the door silently behind her and turned around so she was facing the bed. Jack was sat on top of the comforter, propped up against the headboard with a pillow behind his back. He had his left knee drawn up in front of himself with an open book resting against it and he was wearing the reading glasses that no-one apart from Sam was allowed to know he needed. Sam's view of An was almost completely obscured by the sheet that was swaddled around him as he lay across Jack's lap but from the rhythmic, slightly stuffed up breathing Sam could tell he was fast asleep.

Jack looked up and watched Sam over the rim of his glasses as she approached the bed. "Hey," he whispered. "Everything OK?"

Sam smiled. "Yeah, I think so. I think Nyan's going to need a bit of time to adjust though, he's worried that An will be frightened of him for good now. I've told him I don't think that's the case but he was fretting none the less."

Jack nodded. "Everything'll look better in the morning after a good night…er…couple of hours sleep. Speaking of which, are you going to stand there all night or are your going to join me at some point?"

"I'm coming, just let me get changed again first." Sam put the rucksack on the chair beside the bed and opened it. She removed An's clothes and set them neatly on the table before pulling out the dog and handing it to Jack. She then took the facecloth and toothbrush into the bathroom with her and got changed back into the pyjamas that she had left draped over the towel rail in the small room.

~#~

Sam wandered out of the bathroom to discover that Jack had somehow got his legs under the comforter even though neither he nor An appeared to have moved. Jack was studying the book which was resting on his now-covered knee when Sam leaned over and pinched his chin between the thumb and forefinger of her right hand. She made a show of gently moving his head back and forth as if examining him. She then lowered her lips to his and gave him a deep, sensual kiss before climbing into the bed beside him. "You know, I'm glad you don't let anyone else see you in these," she said and motioned to his glasses. "If you went out into the base like that no self respecting woman would be able to keep their hands off you!"


	92. Chapter 92

~#~ (Chapter 92)

Jack was staring over Sam's shoulder and watched the clock as it ticked over to 0500. 5am was the Colonel's usual time to get up, shower, shave and dress but this particular morning he was more than unwilling to do so. He was lying on his side facing Sam with An between them. At some point in the night the boy had wriggled down the bed and curled his arm around the Colonel's waist. By the time morning came he was completely obscured from view and was plastered against Jack's stomach like a small, human-shaped hot water bottle.

As he lay watching the minutes tick past Jack let out a comfortable sigh and reached beneath the covers to gently stroke An's baby-soft hair. The boy had woken twice in the night needing the toilet and both times Jack had managed to extract himself and the boy from the bed without disturbing Sam. As soon as An's bladder had been emptied and he'd been snuggled back into bed against Jack's chest he had fallen instantly asleep again. Sleep hadn't come so easily for Jack though and after the toilet trip he had only dozed and had remained on watch, guarding over his family, for the remainder of the night.

~#~

When Sam eventually roused from her slumber it was to find the other side of the bed empty and the bathroom door closed. She slipped from the bed, crossed the room and placed her ear to the door of the smaller room. The shower was running and Jack was singing a very off key sea-shanty while An was chattering quietly - either to himself or to Jack, Sam couldn't tell. She smiled to herself and decided to forego her normal morning ablutions and set about finding clean clothes for everyone.

She set clothes for both An and Jack out on the bed and quickly got herself dressed before quietly slipping out into the corridor to fetch breakfast for everyone.

~#~

When Sam returned with a tray of food she found a fully-clothed Jack putting the finishing touches to An's outfit by pulling on the small pair of black socks that she had set out for him.

"Hey there, you two," she said softly as she stepped across the room and placed the tray down on the table. "Did you sleep well?"

Jack shrugged and Sam nodded her understanding as she run her fingers through his hair and flattened out the spikes that his hasty scrub with a towel had left behind. She knew all about Jack's overprotective tendencies and had guessed that he might have unconsciously decided to keep watch over the room instead of actually getting any quality sleep. Jack pressed his head against her hand and shrugged again. He knew that Sam understood.

An sat up straighter and sniffed the air. "Food?" he asked quietly. "Samantha, food?"

Sam chuckled and moved her hand from Jack's hair to An's. "Yes, that's right. I brought breakfast for us all. Are you hungry?"

When An's stomach rumbled before he had the chance to answer, Jack leant over and poked him gently in the tummy with a softly uttered 'grrr.' The boy rolled over on the bed with a loud giggle. He then stopped, sat up, thought about what he'd done and then realised that rolling around on the soft comforter was a fun thing to do. He once again started rolling across the cover and would have disappeared over the end of the bed if Jack hadn't quickly snagged hold of one of his feet as he rolled past. Jack tickled the foot and pulled An back across the bed by it before lifting the boy up under his armpits and setting him carefully down on the floor.

~#~

Jack looked at Sam and put a finger to his lips. With his other hand he pointed between An and the tray of food and Sam quickly got the message. She sat down quietly on the bed and scooted upwards until she was sitting against the headboard. She then grabbed the book that Jack had been reading the previous night, opened it and began to read.

Jack fed An the messier parts of his breakfast before allowing the boy to tackle a couple of slices of jelly-laden toast on his own. Once An was working his way through the toast Jack plucked his book from Sam's hands and replaced it with one of the covered plates of food. He then perched on the bed by her feet with his own plate and the pair of them settled down to eat breakfast together.

As they ate Sam told Jack that contact had finally been made with the Tok'ra and that the situation with An had been explained to them. The Tok'ra had promised to contact Jacob and told the SGC to expect him and a couple of their scientists later that day.

Sam shook her head and smiled at the grimace that crossed Jack's face when she said the words 'Tok'ra' and 'scientist' together. Two of Jack's most disliked groups of people in the universe, second and third only to the Goa'uld. She gave his shoulder a friendly swat and reminded him that not only could she be counted as part of both groups but that Jack's future father-in-law was, and presumably always would be, one of the highest ranking of all the Tok'ra of all time.

~#~

Jack and An spent the morning with Nyan to reassure the Bedrosian that there were no hard feelings between the boy and himself. Sam went straight from the VIP room to Noya's ISO room. Both Mollie and Jo had just finished giving Noya her breakfast when Sam walked in and the Major's arrival meant that the nurses could have a break at the same time. The pair were firm friends and jumped at the chance to go to the commissary together and have a chat and a catch-up away from the confines of the infirmary area. They left Sam with the baby telling her to have fun bathing and dressing the little girl in one of the gorgeous little outfits that had mysteriously found their way into the cupboards in the ISO room.

~#~

Just after lunch the off-world activation alert sounded. Sam reluctantly left Noya with Mollie and hurried down to the control room.

The order to open the iris had just been given when Sam stepped up to stand behind Walter. The technician pressed his hand on the control panel and the metal shield retracted smoothly until it was no longer visible. Once that was done Walter turned to Sam and informed her that Jack, An and Nyan were waiting in the briefing room. It was thought prudent that An be kept away from their guests until it was discovered how he was going to react to a fully-grown, fully-blended Tok'ra. The boy was in the briefing room in the hope that he might be able to sense the Tok'ra as they stepped through the gate and therefore accustom himself to their presence gradually. Sam got the distinct impression that everyone was pussyfooting around the boy in an attempt to ward off a repeat performance of An's previous gate room panic and guessed that most of them had heard about the early morning corridor panic as well. This was the SGC after all - and gossip ruled.


	93. Chapter 93

~#~ (Chapter 93)

Sam left the control room, walked into the gate room and stood at parade rest beside General Hammond. The first of the Tok'ra party, a nervous-looking blonde man dressed in soft, brown leather, stepped from the gate holding one end of a large silver crate. The rest of the crate emerged from the event horizon carried by a lithe, raven-haired Tok'ra woman whose chest was barely covered by an exceedingly low-cut top that was even more risqué than those usually favoured by Anise.

As the two young Tok'ra stepped down the ramp and placed their crate on the floor movement up in the briefing room caught Sam's eye. The General obviously caught the movement as well because he looked up at the window at the same time as Sam.

Jack was standing behind the window with An in his arms. The boy was facing outwards and the palms of both his hands as well as his forehead flat against the reinforced glass pane. His mouth was working overtime and Sam stifled a chuckle when she realised that Jack wasn't following a single word that was being said. An was obviously speaking rapidly in Goa'uld and it was evident to Sam that even Nyan was having trouble keeping up with the boy's chaotic chatter.

She smiled to herself and looked back towards the wormhole. The General shook his head and Sam heard him mutter 'some things never change'.

~#~

Eventually the familiar bald head of Jacob Carter emerged from the rippling blue plasma at the end of the wormhole. He was carrying a battered leather satchel and the moment his feet hit the ramp his eyes were scanning the room until they finally fell on Sam. The Major waited for Hammond's nod before she moved away to meet Jacob at the bottom of the ramp. The retired General threw his arms around his daughter and hugged her tight before letting her go, looping his arm through hers and pulling her forwards to greet General Hammond.

He held out his hand towards his old friend and a genuine smile lit upon his face. "George," he said. "It's been too long."

"Jacob," Hammond replied. "I agree. I'm glad to see the pair of you looking as fit as ever. Selmak still keeping you on the straight and narrow I take it?"

Jacob smiled briefly before his head dipped and Selmak came forward. "General Hammond, it is a pleasure as always. As for keeping Jacob on the 'straight and narrow' I have to tell you that is a harder prospect than it sounds. Even though I continually remind him that I have a greater appreciation of what this body needs to function correctly he still insists on imbibing large quantities of that awful substance that he calls coffee. It is a habit that I have never managed to break him out of and we eventually had to come to a compromise on quantities. I thought you should know that we are running low on supplies and that Jacob has been hoping for an excuse to return to Earth to replenish his stocks. Please feel free to assist him in this matter or he will feel it necessary to gripe at me for months to come. I would respectfully ask that you avoid the Colombian Extra Dark Rocket Fuel though. Somehow some managed to find its way back with us several trips ago and Jacob does not seem to realise what a massive headache that particular escapade would have caused him had I not been there to purge the pollutant from his system. The rest of the beans were…accidentally left behind the last time we moved bases and I would see it as a personal favour that they are not replaced."

Sam and General Hammond traded a look with one another as Selmak dropped her head and allowed Jacob to take control once again. When he raised his head he had a sheepish grin on his face and he looked over at Sam and shrugged. "What can I say? I like my coffee. Sammy, you know that better than anyone. I'm beginning to wonder if it's worth the hassle though. I get this little voice nagging away every time I have any and to be honest the effect just isn't the same with Sel cancelling out 99% of the caffeine buzz." He paused and shook his head gently. "Sel says that I've said enough and she's requesting that I get some introductions out of the way so we can get down to the real reason that we're here."

Jacob then got down to business and presented the two Tok'ra scientists to General Hammond. The underdressed female was called Jarak and the obviously anxious male was called B'nar. The human hosts of both scientists looked to be aged in their mid twenties but both Sam and Hammond knew that looks could be very deceiving where the Tok'ra were concerned.

With the introductions complete Hammond arranged for an SF to take the two younger Tok'ra up to one of the lesser-used labs on level 21. The pair of them would have a secure room in which to set up the equipment that would be linked to the memory device but it was also on the same level as the infirmary should anything untoward happen. The General had already decided that Janet Fraiser would be present before, during and after An was hooked up to the memory device because, even though no-one knew exactly what the boy had been through since he ceased to be Daniel Jackson, there was no way it could have been pleasant.

Once the Tok'ra had left the gate room Hammond excused Sam so she could wait with Jack, An and Nyan in the briefing room and walked into his office with Jacob.

Hammond sat in his usual place behind his desk and motioned Jacob to sit in the chair facing him. The elderly Tok'ra then told his old friend a little more about the colleagues he had brought with him.

Jarak and her host, Shaena, were scientists in the truest sense of the word. Shaena was a certified genius in her own right and had been a renowned microbiologist on her home world before being struck down by a devastating and debilitating infection caused by an off-world insect bite. Shaena's people had been allies with the Tok'ra for many years and the reality that her genius would be lost to their people if she died was an unacceptable one. They had contacted the Tok'ra in the hope that a healing device would aid Shaena's recovery but when it became clear that this wasn't going to work and that her situation was not going to improve the only solution available was for the Tok'ra to offer implantation.

A suitable scientifically-minded symbiote was selected from the poor souls who were enclosed in stasis jars until suitable hosts could be found and the blending took place. The pair, Jarak and Shaena, had bonded almost immediately and, once the damage to Shaena's system had been repaired, they had gone on to do fantastic things to advance both Shaena's peoples and the Tok'ra's scientific knowledge-bases.

B'nar was a completely different story. He and his host, Tolle, a gentle, empathic man, had been blended for many, many years but recently they had both almost been lost after being captured and tortured by the Goa'uld. It had been touch and go for months as to whether B'nar, Tolle or both would perish from the damage inflicted on their shared body. The Tok'ra council had wanted to remove B'nar from Tolle and place him into stasis until a new, healthy host could be obtained but it had soon been discovered that the symbiote was too weak, not to mention unwilling, to survive the extraction from his beloved host's body.

Jacob explained that the trip to Earth was the first for the blended pair since their recovery and that the council had been waiting for the ideal opportunity to gently break them back into travelling off-world. When the message had come through from the SGC that there was a delicate situation that needed handling with the utmost care and compassion it was felt that this was just that mission.

"And on that note," Jacob said and he raised an eyebrow as he spoke, "would you like to fill me in on exactly why we _are_ here? All I really know is that it's an extremely delicate situation which involves using the Tok'ra memory device on a potentially unstable child. I don't understand why anyone - and I mean anyone - would ever contemplate subjecting a child to the intense pain that the memory device creates and personally at the moment I'm at a loss to comprehend why you, of all people, are asking us to do such a thing. You must know that the agony sustained during a session with the device is immense and that it's an unfortunate side effect that none of our people have been able to even reduce since it was created. That said Jarak and B'nar have been developing a paired memory device - pairing two devices together to allow the physical and emotional trauma caused to be shared between two users. This new design also has an added benefit that the secondary user can see, hear and feel the sights, sounds and emotions extracted from the primary user but that nothing need be transmitted onto a view-screen as per the older, unmodified devices. Our scientists have created something akin to a hard drive that the memories are recorded to but these memories can remain unviewed unless necessary. This is all part of the equipment that is being set up on level 21. Now, George, please, what is _really_ going on here?"


	94. Chapter 94

~#~ (Chapter 94)

While he was 'looking' down at the gate room An informed Jack and Nyan that he knew three Tok'ra had stepped through the gate and commented on Selmak's great age and presence of being. Jack raised his eyebrows when Nyan translated that sentence but the Bedrosian merely shrugged and explained that this was what he'd meant when he'd said that talking to An was often more like talking to an adult than a child.

A quivering of nervous tension began to run through the boy as Jacob got nearer and, even though he couldn't see the Tok'ra through the glass window separating the General's office and the briefing room, it was clear that he knew Jacob and Selmak were close by.

~#~

The door to Hammond's office eventually opened and a stunned and slightly sick looking Jacob Carter followed George Hammond into the briefing room. George stepped up to the table and then put a gentle but firm hand on Jacob's arm to stop him moving any further forwards. The two Generals stood side by side and waited to see how An would react to the presence of Jacob and, more importantly, Selmak.

~#~

An reacted the moment the door to General Hammond's office opened. He tightly fisted a chunk of Jack's T-shirt and wriggled himself around until he was facing out into the room. Seemingly without even thinking about it he located Jacob and, breathing heavily, blindly stared the elderly Tok'ra down.

It was apparent to everyone present that neither Jacob nor Selmak were entirely comfortable with the boy's scrutiny but held still while An decided whether they were friendly or not.

Suddenly, with a flare of his nostrils, a shake of his head and a loud exhale of breath, An relaxed. He slumped down into Jack's arms, released the death-grip that he had been holding on the shirt and wriggled around until his face was squashed against Jack's chest.

General Hammond took this as a sign that everyone could breathe again and sat himself down. He then motioned to the room that they should do the same. Jack snuggled An against himself and sat down. Nyan sat on one side of them, Sam on the other and Janet, who had entered the room just a couple of minutes before, took a seat opposite.

~#~

Between them Jacob and Selmak explained about the twinned memory devices that were being set up in the lab near to the infirmary. Jack initially objected vehemently to the suggestion of using the memory device on An and Janet was forced to explain several times how she was planning to lightly sedate the boy before allowing the Tok'ra scientists anywhere near him. She also explained that she would dose him up with pain killers before reducing the sedation and that hopefully this would reduce the 'nail in the head' effect that usually came after the use of the memory devices.

Once he'd agreed to Janet's plans Jack immediately volunteered to be the person to wear the second device. Sam looked uneasy with the idea but agreed that Daniel would have selected Jack over anyone else to pick through his memories. For reasons that Jack had never understood, adult Daniel had trusted him implicitly and, even though he had no obvious memories of Jack himself, it seemed that child-sized Daniel, in the form of An, now trusted him in the same manner.

Once all the details had been finalised, General Hammond ordered everyone to keep him informed and returned to his office. An SF was dispatched to let Teal'c know what was going on and everyone else rose to their feet. In small groups they gradually made their way towards the lab on level 21, either by elevator or staircase.

~#~

Jacob, Janet and Sam beat Jack, An and Nyan to the lab. Jacob and Janet moved inside to talk to Jarak and B'nar while Sam lingered in the corridor and waited for the others to arrive.

When Jack stepped from the stairwell Sam was surprised to find An out of his customary position on his left arm. The boy was draped over the right hand side of Jack's chest and had his left cheek resting on the Colonel's shoulder. He had a worried expression on his face and was conversing quietly with Nyan who was slowly keeping pace beside them. Sam dropped into position by Jack's left arm and placed a gentle hand on An's back to alert him to her presence.

An raised his head, gave a little wriggle and then uttered a quick burst of chatter which made Nyan smile.

"What?" "What was that?" Both Jack and Sam spoke at the same time.

Nyan leant forwards and tousled An's hair. "He says that he was aware of your presence the moment we stepped through the door but he appreciated that you thought to reassure him that you were there."

Jack brow furrowed. "Those exact words, Nyan?" he asked.

Nyan cocked his head in Jack's direction with a questioning look. "Pretty much, sir, yes. Why?"

Jack shook his head and rolled his eyes. "Just thinking," he replied quietly. "…and remembering. Sheer volume of words, kinda thing."

Nyan didn't know how to reply to this and remained quiet but Sam was following Jack's line of thinking. She moved her hand from An's back onto Jack's arm, gave a gentle, supportive squeeze and then motioned towards the slightly-open door of the lab.

~#~

It was obvious that the setting of the room had been carefully thought out. Two infirmary beds had been set up at right angles to one another along adjoining walls, creating the largest amount of possible floor space in the not overly large room. A medical monitor sat beside each bed and in the corner of the room, in the space left between the heads of both beds, sat a small table containing the Tok'ra's equipment. Jack looked at the table and saw that a computer monitor sat facing the wrong way at the rear of it. He initially assumed that it was an unused piece of equipment that had been left in the lab for some reason but realised it was switched on when he noticed that the green glow it was emitting colouring the drab grey wall at the back of the lab. The screen, Jack thought, was obviously part of the equipment that was going to be used to 'record' any memories when they were retrieved from An's somewhat-scrambled mind. With it facing the back wall there was no way anyone would be able to see the images it displayed, affording a small amount of privacy to both Jack and An. Jack smiled to himself, nodding his approval to Jacob who was watching him closely.

~#~

An stiffened and clung to Jack as he carried him fully into the room. Jacob had given his scientists prior warning that An would need to 'check them out' before coming into close contact with them and he quickly raised his hand to ensure they didn't inadvertently frighten the small boy.

Both Jarak and B'nar stepped slowly off to one side and stood still while Jack wrapped his arms comfortingly around An's small body. He followed the wall around the room until he reached the base of one of the beds and then shuffled himself backwards onto the mattress. Once he was fully seated Jack gently encouraged An to let go of his T-shirt before rearranging the boy so he was sitting sideways across his lap.

An took up a death grip on Jack's thumb and 'looked' out into the room. He completely ignored Jacob, all his attentions were on Jarak and B'nar. Time and time again his head swung back and forth until he finally relaxed enough to loosen his grip on Jack.

"Good boy," Jack said tenderly and gave him a tight hug. An gave a breathy squeak and then a quiet chuckle when Jack let him go again.

Jack looked over at Jacob. "What now?" he asked.

"Now?" Jacob replied. "Hopefully we now find out what exactly happened to this little fella."

~#~

Janet moved forwards and paused in front of Jack and An. "Colonel, we've already agreed that I'm going to be giving a light sedation to An before we begin this, I'd like you to allow me to do the same for you."

Jack opened his mouth but Janet beat him to it before he was able to utter a word. "Ah ah," she said and waved a finger in his face to stop him. "Before you start, I've discussed this with Jacob and we both agree. This whole procedure is going to be neither simple nor pleasant and I'm talking about a very light sedation."

Jack opened his mouth again but this time Jacob stopped him. "Jack, please. It'll be much more likely that An will remain calm if you are too. We all…well, most of us, know how the loss of Daniel affected you and if this procedure works how it should then you may possibly experience some of that loss from Daniel's point of view. Even if we can't take the memories that far back immediately then his time with the Jaffa is bound to be…how can I put this…distasteful. Jack, I have to know that you fully understand what it is that you've volunteered for?"

Jack raised his eyebrows and looked between Janet and Jacob before trying to speak. "I think," he began and then paused, waiting for someone to interrupt. When no-one did he continued, "…I think so…kinda. Maybe the…well, just a little sedative might not be such a bad idea." He scanned the room with his eyes, caught Sam's sad looking stare and then dropped his gaze to the floor. "I didn't…I can't…don't…don't want…er…yeah." Jack faltered to a stop and bundled an unresisting An up tight against himself. He closed his eyes and leant against the soft blonde head while he tried to force back the lump that had risen into his throat.

Jack's confidence had taken a severe beating several times in the previous year and the doctor always knew to worry when his usual bravado was abandoned. Janet stepped back to give the distressed man a little space and motioned to Jacob to give Jack a little time to compose himself.

~#~

Once Jack recovered enough he settled An back on his lap with a whispered apology. He stroked the boy's back calmingly for a moment before motioning to Janet that he was ready and waving Nyan over to take An from him. The boy resisted at first and clung to Jack until Nyan explained that he was only taking An a mere few feet away and that An would be able to speak to him at all times if he felt the need to. On the way from the briefing room the Bedrosian had explained as best he could about what was going to happen with the Tok'ra devices. He had, however, bent the truth slightly and told An that the reason for doing it was to try and find out what had happened to his eyesight. No-one knew for certain whether the Tok'ra memory devices would be able to retrieve any hidden memories and An was seemingly unaware that he had any issues with his mind. It had been decided earlier that maybe, for now, it was for the best that the boy remained oblivious to the fact that there was anything else wrong with him other than his eye problems. If the Tok'ra equipment failed to recover any of Daniel's memories then An would never know the difference but, if it did work, then the small group of people comprising of Sam, Jack, Janet, Nyan, Jacob and the General knew they would work together to deal with whatever fallout came after.

An sat quietly on Nyan's lap looking slightly lost and occasionally letting out a small bleat of 'Jack'. Jack answered each pitiful call with a quiet 'I'm here' or 'It's OK, buddy" and An would fall quiet again for a while. Janet wasted no time getting the sedative into Jack's system and then moved over to An and repeated the task on his small outstretched arm. She returned to Jack and hooked him up to the monitors while An's sedative began to take effect and then finished up by crossing the room once again and attaching the various monitors of the second machine to the boy.

By the time Janet had finished the little boy was looking dopey and Jack was clearly feeling the effects of the

sedative as he was reclining back against the raised head of the bed and some of the more obvious stress-lines were missing from his face. Sam had gravitated away from the wall and was standing beside Jack's bed and had his hand clasped tightly between hers.

Janet gently grasped her arm. "Sam," she said quietly. "Come over here with me."

As she put a little pressure on Sam's arm to move her away from Jack, the smaller woman could feel the quivers of nervous tension running through the Major. She directed Sam back towards the wall, pressed her down into a chair and then stuck her head through the door and ordered a passing airman to run to the nurses' station and bring back a cup of hot, sweet tea.

Once the airman returned with the drink Janet presented it to Sam with an order that she drink every bit.

Sam took a sip and then frowned at the sweetness of the liquid. Before she had the chance to complain though Janet reminded her that she had come back through the gate just a few days before barely able to support her own weight. The doctor crouched in front of Sam and impressed on her the fact that she still wasn't 100% and that if she neglected to look after herself with everything else that was going on then she'd end up back in the infirmary whether she liked it or not.

Sam frowned again but remained silent. She sat and forced herself to relax while she quietly sipped the tea but Janet noticed that her eyes never strayed from the bed that Jack was lying on.


	95. Chapter 95

~#~ (Chapter 95)

After an internal chat with Selmak and a cursory glance at the various members of the SGC dotted around the room, Jacob motioned to Jarak and B'nar to begin.

B'nar popped open a drawer in the bottom of the equipment that was sitting on the table and removed a small, metallic case. He carried it over to where An was sitting and crouched in front of the bed so he could address the boy. Quietly and carefully, speaking in Goa'uld, he explained what was going to happen. Much of what he said was a repeat of what Nyan had explained earlier but a few points were questioned by both An and the anthropologist whose lap he was sitting on.

B'nar rearranged An and Nyan so that the boy was leaning against the Bedrosian's front with Nyan's arms wrapped tightly around him so he couldn't easily wriggle or flinch at an inappropriate moment. The Tok'ra then placed a hand gently on An's head. "Ready?" he asked quietly.

At An's nod he removed the first of the memory devices from the case. "Just a little pinch," he said and placed the tiny device against the boy's temple. There was a barely-audible whooshing sound followed by a soft beep before a small blue light came on in the middle of the device. An tensed slightly as the device made it's initial connection and furrows formed in the soft skin on his forehead. Nyan lowered his mouth to the boy's ear and murmured comforting words until he eventually felt the tension leaving him.

"_Are you alright, little one?_" he asked softly.

An squirmed slightly in his lap and then sat there rolling his head slowly from one side to the other. After a few moments Nyan could feel him trying to flex his arms so he released the tight hold he had around the small body but made sure to gently capture both of the boy's hands with his own before An could make a grab for his temple.

"_If you want to feel it then you must let me help you_," he said quietly. "_The device is very delicate._"

An bobbed his head forwards and Nyan felt the little hands inside his own go limp as his words sunk in. He uncovered An's hands and carefully placed the fingertips of the boy's right hand against the his cheek. He then followed the cheekbone upwards until An's tiny fingers made contact with the metallic gadget attached securely to his temple. Nyan directed An's fingers around the circumference of the circle and then across the flat surface that made up the main body of the device before he finished up by slipping An's fingers back to where they started on his cheekbone. He chuckled and gave the boy a cuddle when An immediately removed his hands from his face, folded them neatly in his lap and leant back against the Bedrosian with a quiet exhale of breath.

B'nar smiled and then stood up and stepped backwards. "Stage one is complete," he announced. "Colonel O'Neill, if you would allow me?"

Jack, who had carefully watched everything that had been done on the other bed, waved him over. "Let's get it done," he replied.

~#~

B'nar quickly connected the probe to Jack and then motioned to Jarak that he was done. The female Tok'ra switched on the control unit linked to the devices and both Jack and An flinched as the devices attached to their heads powered up.

Jack looked over to An and, seeing that he seemed OK, turned his attention back to B'nar who was hovering near to the end of his bed. "What now?" he asked.

B'nar walked forwards until he was level with Jack's head. "Now, Colonel, you must close your eyes. Close your eyes and clear your mind. Once the machine is activated you will begin to experience the recollections within An's mind, however I would remind you that you will have no control over what memories you do and don't experience. Jarak will step the memories back in small - well, I suppose that should be short -increments at a time. It may be a little confusing that way but we think it will prove less stressful on the both of you and there will be less disorientation on your part should we have to cease the connection prematurely. Now, if you are ready then, please, close your eyes."

Jack nodded briefly and sent a quick smile over to Sam before he shut his eyes. He felt a soft touch against the device and opened one eye to see B'nar moving off towards An. The blonde Tok'ra placed a hand on the boy's head and then patted his hair and spoke quietly to him. Jack saw An nod and then watched as B'nar reached out and pressed one finger to the little blue light on An's memory device.

At that moment Jack was forced to slam his eyes shut again as a blinding flash seemed to ripple across his retinas. After the initial 'flash' the Colonel was plunged into total darkness and he risked a quick peek back into the room to check his eyes were still functioning. Happy that they were, Jack closed his eyes, only this time he kept them closed as the memories began to play out in his mind.

~#~

The Colonel began to wonder if the machine was working properly when all he got for the first few seconds was darkness and a confused jumbled of thoughts and feelings. It took him a short while to realise that he wasn't getting any visual memories because he was probably viewing An's most recent memories. The boy had been blind for an undisclosed length of time and currently had to depend on his other senses to make up for the lack of sight. Jack concentrated hard and soon found that he could pick out individual emotions from the myriad that were bombarding him. Once he'd mastered the emotions he moved on to what else he could pick up from the thoughts he was receiving from An. He suddenly hunched forwards on the bed, scaring poor Janet half to death in the process, when he realised that he could pick random words out of the memories. After that it was just a case of fine tuning his mind and he could soon recall entire conversations that An had overheard including, most bizarrely for Jack, hearing himself comforting the boy from across the room, just a few minutes before.

Without opening his eyes Jack motioned in the general direction of Jarak and the machinery on the table. "Whoa," he said, slightly breathlessly. "It's working. You wanna hit the rewind switch?"


	96. Chapter 96

~#~ (Chapter 96)

Jarak made several adjustments to the machine, all the time checking the readouts on the front. When she was confident that the settings were correct she turned a small silver knob slowly in a clockwise direction.

Much of the first portion of An's memories that assailed Jack seemed to be made up of a random selection of conversations that had been held between Nyan and An since they'd been forced together on that fateful day when Sam, Lou and An had been rescued from the Ha'tak. Unfortunately for Jack virtually all of these conversations were in fluent, and often very fast, Goa'uld. He momentarily held up his hand and Jarak flicked a switch on the machine which temporarily disabled the link between the two memory devices.

"Colonel O'Neill?" she asked, leaning towards Jack who remained seated on the bed with his eyes closed. "Is there a problem?"

"I just want to clarify, how much of this will I be able to remember once this…" Jack paused and tapped the device on his temple gently with one finger. "…and I mean, detail-wise, how much will I be able to remember once this thing is gone?"

Jarak moved over to Jack's side so that she wasn't answering from across the room. "Once the device is removed then An's memories will be just like your own. Certain things will be retained in your mind forever while other things will be lost over time. Do not forget that everything you see will also be recorded by our equipment and that it will be reviewable in the future if necessary. Why do you suddenly ask?"

The hand that Jack had tapped the memory device with waved in a vague, circular motion around the tiny metallic object. "Er…it's the language barrier again. Nyan," Jack raised his voice slightly to call the Bedrosian and waited for a quiet reply before he continued. "Nyan, you're going to need to at least hear that recording once it's finished. I'm not going to know if the content of some of the conversations is important or not and I don't know what I'm gonna miss. That OK with you?"

Nyan nodded and then realised that Jack still had his eyes tightly closed so replied audibly. "Yes, Colonel."

Jack nodded. "OK. Glad we got that sorted. Jarak, whenever you're ready."

~#~

Jarak 'rewound' An's memories back another notch and Jack found himself listening to Teal'c's melodious tones. Once he heard Sam's faltering attempts at repeating what she'd been told, Jack realised that this was the point on the Ha'tak vessel when they had first encountered An. Both he and An had a hard time working through the barrage of memories and emotions that came next - the ones covering the time where Jack was forced to carry a traumatised An through a room full of rowdy Jaffa, into the ring transporter and then, finally, through the Stargate to Earth. By the time that particular set of memories had run its course Jack was breathing heavily and wondering what he had really let himself in for. These weren't supposed to be the 'bad' memories - these weren't the memories of what had gone on before, during the boy's 'training' - these were of his rescue but the emotion held in them was almost overpowering. Jack had been able to feel the sheer terror that An had experienced. How he had not known who had him, where they were taking him and why and the Colonel shuddered when he realised that he himself had been the main cause of all that pain and anguish.

~#~

Jarak fiddled with her machinery and the next set of memories sprung forwards. Nothing of any great consequence was learned in this batch - the time in which An had been kept in his room aboard the Ha'tak - although Jack was shocked at the almost overwhelming feelings of despair and desolation that came with the memories. That and the general feeling of weakness that wafted over him.

~#~

The next set of memories was less easy for Jack to unravel but he had the impression that they had happened not long after An's training had been ceased. The boy was obviously in much better physical condition than before but his thoughts were very jumbled and confused as if any sort of a normal routine had been effectively thrown out of the window. The tell-tale humming noise that was present aboard all Goa'uld ships was absent and Jack quickly came to the conclusion that An was still on the base that the Tok'ra operative had been stationed at.

This notion was proved correct when Jack suddenly 'remembered' being hidden within a crate, amongst various pots, boxes and other supplies destined for the Ha'tak vessel. Once aboard the ship An had remained in the crate for several hours until he was hastily removed and transported to the Jaffa quarters by means of a wheeled cart full of rough, scratchy blankets.

The boy had then been unceremoniously deposited on the cot in what was going to be 'his' room for the foreseeable future and had been left to his own devices for several days. It had taken him more than a few hours to pluck up the courage to get off the bed and then he had explored the room the best he could. Slowly, with his hands running along the wall, the boy had circumnavigated the room. He'd discovered the door to the bathroom and relieved both his thirst and his urgent need to pass water before setting off back into the main room.

Whichever Jaffa had left him in the room had left a pile of fruit and bread rolls on the other cot, along with a pitcher of water on the floor. An unfortunately only discovered the pitcher when he knocked it over with his foot but managed to catch it before it skittered out of reach across the floor. He then placed it carefully out of the way, just beneath the cot where he could retrieve it for later use.

~#~

Not long afterwards, with a whir and whoosh of engines, the Ha'tak vessel had lifted off and An had found the next few days in the silent room dragging by interminably. The boy had nothing to do but sit and think and, by the time a Jaffa managed to enter with supplies, the fruit had almost completely gone and the bread was stale.

~#~

A long time later the Ha'tak had landed and stayed in place for several days. During this time the level of activity onboard the ship multiplied greatly and, more than once, An had felt the presence of a Goa'ulded host passing close to his location. A point came when there was a great deal of movement in the corridors outside An's room and several times the door had opened slightly before a gruff warning had been called out and it had been firmly closed again. This was the time when An had decided to take refuge under the bed. The boy had gathered together what meagre supplies remained to him and had pushed everything under the cot. He'd gone and carefully filled the pitcher in the sink in the bathroom and had then wriggled with it into the remaining space beneath the cot. After that he pulled the blanket in after himself and had only emerged thereafter either to use the bathroom or to collect what supplies were smuggled into the room for him.

~#~

After a while the activity had died down and the Ha'tak had taken off. The flight had been relatively short however and the vessel soon landed again. This, although An didn't know it, was when Osiris landed on Chamaka.

An had lost his water pitcher when the ship landed. It had fallen over when the Ha'tak touched down and had broken when it rolled into the leg of the cot. This meant more frequent trips out from his hiding place for An but he was less worried because this time the movements in the corridor outside his room became less and less frequent once the Ha'tak was grounded. Unfortunately though this also meant that there was less opportunity for the Jaffa to get food in to him and the gaps of time between their visits got progressively longer. Several times the boy's food supplies had run out completely and he had been forced to survive on water from the bathroom until his next 'delivery' of food had eventually arrived.

Jack realised that this portion of time was when An had lost most of his body weight and condition. Since being onboard the Ha'tak the child had been confined to the one room with nowhere to run and nothing to do. Interior rooms of Ha'tak vessels had no windows so An's would have had no contact with the sun and also, from what Jack could gather and what An had told Nyan and Janet before, what food he did get at that time consisted of mainly meat and dry bread - not a great diet for anyone, let alone a small, growing boy.

Jack concentrated on this set of memories for a little longer until he realised that he had overlapped with the last batch and had ended up back where Sam and Teal'c were speaking to An who was still hiding beneath the bed.


	97. Chapter 97

~#~ (Chapter 97)

Janet called a halt at that point, stating that both An and Jack needed a short break. Jack felt the 'pause' being activated on the link between his and An's devices and risked peeking his eyes open a little. His gaze automatically gravitated towards the boy and immediately he could see why Janet had called for the break.

Despite Nyan's careful grip on him, An had managed to wriggle around and had his face buried in the Bedrosian's T-shirt. Nyan's arms were wrapped tightly around him and he had his chin resting gently on An's head but even still Jack could see the little shoulders shuddering every now and then.

Jack locked eyes with the Bedrosian for an instant and then scanned the room for Sam. He jumped slightly when he found that she'd moved from her seat by the door and had sat down beside him on the bed without him noticing. "Damn drugs," he mumbled quietly when he realised that she hadn't missed his flinch.

Sam placed her right arm around Jack's shoulders and drew him in for a hug which he returned without question. It felt right to be able to offer and receive the comfort because, apart from the two Tok'ra scientists, everyone present in the room were familiar figures - family, or as good as.

~#~

Janet bustled around and arranged for refreshments to be brought from the commissary. Once everyone had partaken of a quick sandwich and a drink it was time to begin again. An, who had eaten his sandwich sitting on Jack's bed, hidden from the rest of the room between the Colonel and the wall, looked considerably calmer and settled back onto Nyan's lap without any complaints.

~#~

Sam moved to sit back on her chair while Jarak made some delicate adjustments and then switched the machine back onto transmit. The set of memories this time were ones of confusion and disorientation. Jack could remember overhearing harsh conversations spoken in angry, guttural Goa'uld before a great feeling of loss rolled over him. This section of memories alone made little sense so the Colonel requested that they be taken back a little further so that the memories had a proper context to go with.

There was a momentary pause before both Jack and An flinched and simultaneously rolled their heads towards their left shoulders as if avoiding something. Both of their heart monitors let out a squeal and then a couple of erratic beats and Jarak immediately flicked the switch to pause the link. She then hurried over to Jack as B'nar moved to help Nyan comfort An.

"Colonel. Colonel O'Neill, what is it? What is the matter?" Janet had beaten Jarak over to Jack's bed but noted that Jack had relaxed back onto his bed with his head at a more normal angle just as soon as the machine was paused.

Jack slowly cracked an eye open and squinted at Janet before opening his other eye.

"Colonel?" Janet questioned again.

"S'okay Doc," Jack replied. "Just that someone suddenly turned the lights on. Not sure what it is with you people and those damn penlights but apparently they're universal."

Janet frowned. "Are you saying that An could see during the memory that just started?"

"Something like that, yeah, Doc," Jack said, nodding. "I just got a flash before the plug was pulled though. I couldn't tell you what I…we…what he saw, just a very, very bright light."

Jack looked over to where An was sitting and Janet followed his gaze. The boy didn't look unduly upset, just confused as to why the devices had been stopped again. Jack figured that was only logical seeing as they had obviously reached the point that An thought they had been aiming for, namely what had happened to his eyes. What happened from now on in would be anyone's guess. He nodded to Nyan and quietly murmured to Jarak to switch the machine back on.

This time both Jack and An were ready for the flash of light as the devices came on. An sat placidly on Nyan's knee while Jack sat on his bed, hunched forward slightly as he concentrated on what he was seeing, hearing and experiencing in his mind. He muttered quietly to himself occasionally, low enough that only Janet, who had remained beside him, could hear. Small murmurs of "Damn it," and "God damn them."

~#~

After a while Jack signalled that he wanted the next set of memories and then the ones before that. Both times he sat by almost silently as he watched through them. When he had finished he asked for the machine to be switched off again.

Jack opened his eyes to Janet's worried gaze and scrubbed his hands through his hair before he ran them down his face and rubbed his eyes.

"Nyan," Jack said quietly, noticing that An was sucking in great gulps of air in an attempt to keep his sobs as silent as possible. "You wanna ask the little guy if it's OK for us to take it back just a little more? I…I don't think there's much further to go but there's no way anything further back could possibly be construed as investigating his eye problems. Where that last memory started his eyesight was just about perfect…where it ended, well…not…not so much so." With that, Jack sighed loudly, flopped back against the head of the bed and covered his hands with his face. Janet rubbed his arm sympathetically and then swapped places with Sam who had jumped from her chair the instant that Jack had asked for the machine to be switched off. The tall blonde sidled up to the bed but immediately worked out that she couldn't wrap her arms around Jack due to the way that he was lying. Instead she slid herself onto the bed beside him and laid a supportive hand on one of his raised arms. She looked worriedly towards Janet when she realised she could feel the muscles in Jack's arms flexing as he rhythmically dug his fingernails into his forehead again and again. Janet followed her gaze back towards the Colonel and understood her concern immediately.

~#~

It was obvious that the small sounds of distress that An was trying not to make seemed to be causing a stress reaction within Jack so the diminutive doctor stepped quietly across the room and disconnected the monitor leads from the boy so that Nyan could take him out of the room for a while in order that everyone could calm down a little.

As he stepped off the bed with the child Janet stopped Nyan with a wave of a syringe. Nyan explained to An that the doctor wanted to give him another injection and the boy quietly held out his arm again for Janet to administer the shot of sedative.

Once Nyan and An were out of earshot Janet explained that both Jack and An's sedation had been almost completely burnt off by the adrenalin levels flowing through both of them and questioned the wisdom of continuing with the memory recall when the last one had created such strong reactions from both sides.

Jack emerged from beneath his hands at this point and slid down the bed, rolled onto his side and rested his cheek on Sam's thigh. From this somewhat-sprawled position he struggled to locate Janet who worked out what he was trying to do and squatted down so that she was on eye-level with him.

"Welcome back, Colonel," she joked quietly. "How are you feeling?"

"M'okay," came Jack's reply. "You can't stop us now, Doc, you just can't. We're so close, I can feel it. As long as the little tyke says we can carry on then I want to get this done…and I want to get it done now."

"Bad?" Janet asked quietly as she removed the capped syringe of Jack's sedative from her pocket and waved it gently back and forth in a manner that was clearly asking the Colonel whether he wanted some more.

Jack nodded tiredly and turned his arm around until his bicep was in a more suitable position for Janet to reach. "Believe me, Doc, this is a one-time deal. I really, really don't want to have to do it ever again."

Janet stood up, rubbed the proffered arm and emptied the contents of the syringe into the arm muscle. She then placed a hand gently on Jack's cheek and squatted back down so she was once again able to make eye contact with the reclining man. "Let's see how An is when he comes back shall we? Before we make any decisions? He might not want to carry on today...or he may not be up to it." The little doctor stopped and sighed before addressing Jack again. "Now you…you I want to rest for a while until Nyan comes back with the mini-man. Rest you hear me."

Jack shifted further down the bed until his head was properly in Sam's lap and he wrapped both of his arms around one of her legs. When Sam's hands automatically found their way into his hair and began massaging his scalp, Jack closed his eyes and rested like he'd been ordered to.


	98. Chapter 98

~#~ (Chapter 98)

Nyan hurriedly carried An through the infirmary and into a quiet corridor that ran down behind Janet's office - an area that saw little use by anyone other than Doctor Fraiser and her dedicated team. Most of the lights were kept dimmed to conserve power but sensors on the door and the ceiling meant that the illumination jumped to full brightness as soon as Nyan and An entered the short, dead end, passage. Once there the Bedrosian paced slowly up and down the corridor. Back and forth he wandered between the grey concrete wall at one end of the passageway and the green-painted, glass-panelled doors that led to the infirmary's main thoroughfare at the other. As he walked he rubbed An's back and talked quietly to him although it took a long time before Nyan's gentle ministrations calmed the boy enough that he was ready to reply.

Apart from gulping, hitching breaths An had actually made very little noise since he and Nyan had left the lab where Jack still lay. While he was crying the boy had buried his head in Nyan's neck and, by the time he had calmed down, the Bedrosian's T-shirt was more than a little soggy, with tears, drool and nasal discharge combining to create a shiny, sticky 'snail trail' across his shoulder.

"_Hello there, little one,"_ Nyan said softly when An finally managed to pull himself upright. To Nyan the boy looked somewhat woozy and the gently spoken man realised that Janet's medication had finally taken effect. "_How are you feeling?"_

_"Better," _came the almost-confident reply. An then paused and canted his head, first to one side and then the other. "_Nyan?" _he asked with a confused look on his face. _"Where are we? I can still feel Jacob, Jarak and B'nar but it sounds strange in here. Where is Jack?"_

Nyan leant his back against the cold concrete wall and lowered himself until he was seated on the floor with An in his lap. He pulled a clean handkerchief out of his pocket and proceeded to clean up An's face as he answered his questions. _"We are in a small area behind the infirmary. Have no fear, Jack is not far away. You were upset and we, that is Doctor Janet and myself, thought you could do with a little break. I only came here because it is quiet. It is, well, like a storage area for the infirmary."_

An sniffed, nodded and then sniffed again. Nyan placed the somewhat-soggy handkerchief over his nose and, in the age-old tradition of parents the world over, ordered the boy to _'blow'_.

An blew his nose and then attempted to settle back against Nyan again. His small body shot upright the instant his cheek encountered the clammy mess that adorned the Bedrosian's T-shirt and he uttered a small objectionable 'yeep'.

Nyan chuckled and dabbed at himself with the handkerchief. _"Yeep indeed! I think I need a clean shirt!"_

Janet chose that exact moment to peek through the glass panel in one of the doors at the end of the corridor. Nyan saw the movement out of the corner of his eye and motioned for the doctor to enter.

_"An, Doctor Janet is here,"_ he said quietly. _"She…oh…"_ Nyan stopped and chuckled. His next words drew a quiet giggle from An too. _"She has brought me a shirt!"_

Sure enough Janet had thought to grab a clean T-shirt for Nyan on the way through the infirmary and held it out to him as soon as she was near enough. "I thought you might need this," she said. Eyeing the unpleasantness on the shirt that Nyan was wearing she laughed out loud. "It seems I was right too!"

Janet handed the T-shirt to Nyan, patted An on the head and then stepped back onto the other side of the green doors to allow Nyan to change.

~#~

Not seeing anywhere sensible to leave it, Nyan balled up the dirty T-shirt and carried it with him. He gave An a hug and asked if he was good to go back into the lab to 'see how Jack was getting along'. On receiving an affirmative answer from the boy Nyan left the corridor and followed Janet back through the infirmary and into the lab where Jack, Sam, Jacob, Jarak and B'nar were waiting.

~#~

Janet set about hooking An back up to the monitoring devices. This left Sam the unenviable task of waking Jack who had fallen asleep about thirty minutes before. Cuddled up to Sam's legs, Jack had slowly drifted from resting, to dozing and finally into sleeping, partly due to Janet's sedatives and partly due to the stresses of the last few hours beginning to catch up with him.

Sam gently rubbed his shoulders and carded her fingers through the silvery sides of his hair. After a fair amount of coaxing she was rewarded with a flash of chocolate brown eyes and a dopey smile. Jack looked blearily around the room before realising exactly where he was and the position he was lying in. Looking vaguely embarrassed he released Sam's captive leg and dragged himself back up the bed until he was reclining in a much more normal position with his head against the pillow and his back against the elevated section of the bed.

Once he was settled again Sam made to move away but as she rose from the bed Jack grabbed her wrist and pulled her back towards him. He then kissed the end of his finger and attempted to touch the fingertip to Sam's nose. Unfortunately a combination of the drugs in his system and the fact that he'd only just woken up, he missed the end of her nose and ended up jabbing his finger into the soft flesh of her cheek. This made the two of them smile along with Janet who had started to move over towards Jack when it looked like Sam was on the move. The Major met Janet's twinkling eyes, leant over, gave Jack a chaste kiss on the forehead and then moved out of the way and sat back on her chair by the door.

Janet walked up to Jack's bed and smiled. "Hello Colonel," she said softly. "How are you feeling?"

Jack scrubbed his hands through his hair and twisted his head from side to side in an attempt to work out some of the kinks that had settled there. This gave him a couple of seconds to formulate his answer for Janet.

"Not bad actually, Doc," he eventually replied. "Feel like I could sleep for a week though. How's Titch?"

Jack wriggled himself around on the bed a little until he could see past Janet to where An sat. The boy looked considerably calmer than last time he'd seen him and was sitting placidly in Nyan's lap, peacefully rubbing the corner of his blanket back and forth across one of his cheekbones as he waited.

"His readings are all good, Colonel," Janet answered. "I'm pleased to say that nothing we've done today seems to have caused any physiological problems to either of you. Quite frankly, it's the long-term psychological ramifications of continuing this that are worrying me at the moment."

Jack frowned. "What do you mean?" he asked and then stopped dead and looked at her. "You don't want us to go on, do you? You're worried that whatever we turn up next is going to damage him in some way? Jan, you have to know there's no way I'd do anything to hurt the little guy. If you really think there's a chance that we're going to then please, please talk to Jacob. Now."

Janet could see that she'd unintentionally upset Jack again and put one hand on his shoulder to ground him and waggled another in his face to warn him to be quiet.

"I don't mean hurt in the…well…hurt sense of the word. I'm just questioning the wisdom of upsetting the fragile balance inside his mind," she said firmly. As Jack opened his mouth to answer she raised her finger and wiggled it again. "How can I explain this? Hmm, OK. At the moment, physically, An is a more-or-less-healthy, albeit underweight, five year old child. Psychologically he's a more-or-less-stable, brighter than average, five year old child. I'm just questioning the wisdom of…mucking about with the status quo. Currently he doesn't know that he's Daniel and he doesn't know that he's…trapped, for want of a better word…inside that little body. He has no memories of being an adult and I've come to thinking that maybe it's better that way."

Jack frowned as he mulled over Janet's words, his mind not working at full speed due to the drugs in his system. "You mean that while he looks like a child and thinks like a child that he is, basically, a child? That he's safer in his own head like that?" Janet nodded vaguely and let Jack continue to process his thoughts. "And if we push him too far then, oh, I see what you're getting at. If we somehow…reactivate, his adult memories then he'd be back to being Daniel but that he'd still be stuck in that little body." Jack stopped, shuddered and stared down at his knees.

Janet stopped him and turned his face back up towards her with a gentle touch to his cheek. "That's exactly what I mean. I can't see how anyone - even someone as strong as Daniel - would be able to survive that. To be able to remember everything he'd ever done and everyone he'd ever met and yet to know that it wasn't 'him' that did those things and met those people. To know that he'd have to put his life on hold for the next fifteen years or so - until he grew up again - I don't know about you but I couldn't do that."

Jack looked over at An again and smiled sadly. "Me neither, Doc. Me neither and...do we really have the right anyway? The right to…choose?"

Nyan had his cheek resting on An's hair and was rocking the boy from gently side to side in his lap. An in turn was looking like he could fall asleep at any moment.

An unsettling quiet fell over the small room.

Jack, Janet and those nearest to them that could overhear the quiet conversation all realised that if, somehow, they did manage to reboot Daniel's memories that they'd lose the gentle, if somewhat tormented soul, that An had become. An, even though he was - in many ways - Daniel, was a little person in his own right. What gave the doctors, the Tok'ra, or even Jack, the right to risk destroying that life on the premise of finding out what happened to their friend who, theoretically, they had lost, buried and mourned the previous year? Was it worth losing An for the chance to get back a Daniel who, in all probability, would never truly be the Daniel that they had known and loved? A Daniel who would, most likely, be unable to cope with the trauma of being trapped within a child's body?

Jack looked back and forth between An, Nyan, Janet and Sam. After doing this several times he appeared to visibly wilt and slumped backwards on the bed with his eyes shut.

"No, Doc," he whispered. "We're not doing any more. Not going any further. I can't do it and I won't do it. Please, Jan, Jacob, enough's enough." With that he held his arm up towards Janet in a motion that she understood meant 'unplug me, I'm done.'

Janet looked up and caught Jacob's eye as she placed her hand on the first of the pads connecting Jack to the monitors. She then flicked her eyes towards the door, hoping that Jacob would understand her without her having to verbally ask him and the other Tok'ra to leave the room.

The former General nodded slowly, turned to the scientists and quietly spoke to them. Jarak initially disagreed with something he said but she was silenced by a flash of eyes and a quick blast of quietly-uttered Goa'uld from Selmak. Jacob's head bobbed and once he was back in control he ushered them out into the corridor, pulling the door behind them as they passed through it. It was late afternoon but Jacob knew that General Hammond would still be on-base. With a softly issued request he directed the Tok'ra scientists towards his old friend's office to apprise the General - as best he could - of what had occurred during the afternoon's activities.

~#~

Jack, in the meantime, had been completely unplugged from the monitors and was curled on his side on the bed with Sam pulled against him, leaning against his stomach. Both of them watched as Janet finished unplugging An.

The doctor quietly spoke to Nyan while she worked and once An was free of the usual infirmary medical devices she produced a small syringe from her pocket. Nyan wrapped his arms tightly around An and pulled the boy's head tight against his chest so that the memory device was facing Janet. The doctor immediately inserted the needle into An's skin making an area of numbness around the device and slowly and carefully she extracted the alien technology from the boy's temple. When the device was free of the boy, Janet reached behind her and placed it gently back in to the little case that it had come from. She then leant forwards, petted An's hair and placed a soft kiss on his forehead. Nyan released the tight hold he had on An and allowed him to snuggle against him.

Janet then moved over to Jack and repeated the device-removal procedure on him.

Once the device was safely in the case with it's twin the little doctor turned back to Jack. "You doing OK there Colonel?" she asked.

"Yeah Doc," came the reply. "Glad that's over and I have to say, you've got that removal thing cracked now, haven't you?"

Janet chuckled slightly. "No 'nail in the head'?"

Jack snorted and rolled his head from side to side. "No nail in the head."

~#~

Janet then explained that Jack and An would need to sleep off the effects of the second round of sedatives that she'd given them and sat down quietly on Sam's chair by the door. The five people sat in the room in a companionable silence and, after a couple of quiet minutes Nyan slowly stood up. He walked across to Jack's bed with a now-dozing An and Sam, understanding his intentions, quietly slipped off the bed. Nyan placed the boy carefully in the warm spot left behind by Sam's bottom and smiled when the Colonel's arms automatically wrapped around the small body. The Bedrosian then reached down and pulled a blanket from the bottom of the bed up over both boy and Colonel and studiously ignored the embarrassed look that flickered across Jack's face before the older man closed his eyes.

"Right," Janet whispered. "I think we need to leave them to it. You and you…" she stopped and poked both Nyan and Sam gently in the ribs. "Go, eat, drink, rest, whatever. I don't want to see you anywhere near my infirmary for another couple of hours. I'll post someone at the door in case these two need anything but I don't expect either of them to surface for several hours. What are you waiting for? Go!"

Nyan held his arm out for Sam who slipped hers through it for moral support, both knowing without saying a word that they were going to end up in Nyan's office for a heavy session of cookies and extra strong coffee.

With a last, sad look at Jack, Sam allowed Nyan to escort her from the room. Janet stayed a couple of seconds longer. Eventually she was happy that the pair on the bed were fast asleep - and looked like they were going to stay that way. The doctor raised the side of the bed up to ensure neither were going to roll out and then left them alone.


	99. Chapter 99

~#~ (Chapter 99)

After cookies, coffee and then pie from the commissary Sam persuaded Nyan to go home. "Home as in home, fish, books, leave base, go home," she'd told him, mimicking Janet's bossing around of the pair of them a couple of hours earlier.

As she watched the Bedrosian trudge tiredly down the corridor towards the elevators Sam shook her head. Fully-grown Daniel had always had an unconscious ability to affect the people who knew and loved him. So many people were willing to bend over backwards and put themselves out for the man and yet he'd never been able to see that. It seemed that 'Daniel in a small package' had the same effect on people and the Major had a feeling that the consequence of being in a small, innocent body would only enhance, rather than detract, from that.

~#~

When Jack woke several hours later he took a moment to take stock of himself before opening his eyes. He was warm, slightly achy and after a couple of moments he realised there was something small and bony resting dangerously close to his most manly parts.

Slowly he opened his eyes and was greeted by the sight of a sleeping Sam. At some point while he'd been asleep Sam had crept back into the room and moved the other bed across the room. She had then climbed on and had, whether meaning to or not, fallen asleep. Janet had presumably snuck in to check on them at some point because, even though fully clothed, Sam had a blanket tucked up to her chin and the side was raised on the bed.

Jack removed An's knee from where it was digging into him, pulled the sleeping boy up his body slightly and smiled warmly. Apart from the location - being in a concrete bunker way, way underground - this was where Jack wanted to be. Surrounded by his family - the woman he loved and the little-boy-come-best-friend who he was going to love and care for for the rest of his life.

~#~

Eventually Sam awoke and found herself being watched over by Jack.

"Hey," she said quietly, not wanting to disturb An if he was still asleep - she couldn't tell because the boy's face was still buried in Jack's T-shirt.

"Hey yourself," came the whispered reply. "Nice nap?"

Sam looked down in confusion at the blanket and then wiggled her toes and looked over the side of the bed at her shoes that were sitting on the floor. "I guess so," she laughed. "She got my shoes off without waking me? How gone was I?"

Jack smiled. "Don't know. I was gone too. This one still is." He motioned towards An with a gentle bob of his head. "Think we can go back to our room? Don't know about you but I feel the facilities here are lacking in a few of the more…basic conveniences."

Sam frowned as she tried to work out what Jack meant. "Bathroom?" she asked after a moment.

"Bathroom," came the reply.

Sam smirked. "I'll go find Janet." With that Sam leaned over and unhooked the side of the bed. Once it was lowered she clambered out, slipped back into her shoes and left the room to find the doctor.

Once she tracked Janet down the little doctor told her that she'd advised General Hammond that neither Jack nor An should be questioned about the afternoon's proceedings until she had assessed them the following day. The General, in his fatherly way, had readily agreed. Over the years he had come to care greatly for both Jack and Daniel and he'd stressed to Janet that there was no way he wanted to cause either of them any additional distress. If that meant that the powers that be had to wait an extra day to find out what Jack had discovered from his joining with An then they were just going to have to wait.

Janet then gave Sam permission to take 'her boys' out of the lab and helped the Major get them settled back into their room.

~#~

Sam, Jack and An spent a quiet evening in their VIP room with only Sam emerging from the room during that time. An had been almost completely silent since they'd left the lab which worried both Sam and Jack. After a flash of inspiration Sam went and collected Noya from the infirmary in a hope that the little girl would help his mood. This proved a great idea and the time spent with Noya seemed to work to bring An out of himself.

When Sam took Noya back to the Iso room she then wandered to the commissary to collect a light supper for her, Jack and An. Janet saw her on the way back to the room and walked with her to visit them on her way home. While she was there she commended Sam on managing to get Nyan to leave the base. As far as anyone knew it was the first time he'd left since An had arrived at the mountain.

~#~

The peaceful night lasted all the way through until 0316 the next morning. That was when An, who had been fast asleep, sandwiched between Sam and Jack, sat bolt upright, screamed 'Jack' at the top of his voice and then started shaking violently.

Jack, who was awake immediately, grabbed for the boy and was shocked when An flung his arms around his neck and clung on tight enough that the Colonel's breathing was impeded.

"Hey, hey, you're OK. You're safe," Jack croaked as he adjusted An's grip so he could draw breath properly. "You had a nightmare, little guy. Just a nightmare. Shh, shh, it can't hurt you. Nothing can hurt you while I've got you." Jack mumbled quietly to An in an attempt to calm him and stop the awful, high pitched keening noises that were being emitted by the boy. Sam slipped from the bed and run in to the bathroom. When she returned she was carrying a beaker of water and a damp wash-cloth, both of which she placed on the bedside table.

"An," she said softly as she sat back down on the bed and snuggled against him as best she could with the way that Jack had pulled the boy into his lap. This meant that she ended up lying diagonally across the bed with her head and shoulders across Jack's legs, an uncomfortable position but as An seemed to need the comfort she put up with it. She then slid an arm around An's waist so he had a firm connection between both her and Jack and rubbed her cheek up and down the small of his back.

~#~

Jack patted An's back with one hand and stroked his hair with the other and eventually the keening died down to a mumbling chunter which could just about be distinguished as the word 'Jack' being repeated over and over again.

When it was obvious that the little boy had run out of steam and was starting to fall asleep again, Jack risked unpeeling An from his neck and sliding him down his chest just enough that he could see the runny nose and puffy, red eyes properly. Sam uncurled herself from where she was lying and reached for the wash-cloth and beaker. She touched the cloth to An's hand to warn him it was there and then wiped the cool material gently over across his overheated forehead, down across his eyes, around his neck and then back up to clean his nose. Once she'd done that Sam grabbed the soft blue blanket from where it had ended up beneath Jack's pillow and followed the path of the wash-cloth with that until she was sure the boy was properly dry.

She then handed the beaker to Jack knowing that An would be more likely to accept the drink from him than her and watched as the Colonel quietly encouraged him to have a series of little sips.

Once that was done An was much calmer, only occasionally letting out small hitched breaths which warned them that the storm might not be completely over, just that this was in a temporary lull in proceedings. He slipped down further into Jack's lap and lay there quietly.

~#~

After a moment Jack started rubbing his hands over An's shoulders and eventually decided that have to attempt a conversation with the boy before they all fell asleep again.

"Hey Buddy, you OK now?" he said quietly.

An didn't answer but rubbed his nose against Jack's T-shirt and tiredly rubbed his knuckles into his eyes.

Jack smiled sadly. "I know you're tired, Bud. I also know you probably don't understand most of what I'm saying but can you stay awake long enough to talk to me? An, talk to me."

An pulled one of his hands from where it was tucked against Jack's belly and jabbed his finger against the little sore spot that the memory device had left behind. After realising that hurt and deciding not to do it again, he curled his hand back to it's original starting point and looked blindly up towards Jack's face with a serious expression on his face.

"Jack," he said quietly, starting to move his hand out and then remembering that he really didn't want to touch the sore spot again. "Jack in my head. Why, Jack. Why Jack in my head?"

Jack looked across at Sam who was sat on the bed watching the pair of them. "An, what do you mean I'm in your head? You mean I was in your dream?"

An thought for a moment. "Jack in my head. Jack in stone room. Jack go 'bye. All went…clang and bang, Jack. Smoke…no…no smoke, Jack, dust. Jack, hurt."

"No more hurt, I promise, An. No more hurt." Jack murmured as he gathered An tighter against himself. "God, Sam, he remembers, doesn't he. He remembers me leaving him in that God-damned stone temple, doesn't he?"

Suddenly he turned and looked at Sam again. "My God," he said in awe. "That was English…more or less. An, you're speaking English. Can you understand me?"

An obviously didn't really understand the question but understood the words so he just nodded. "Jack go 'bye. Stone room go clang, bang. An hurt…hurt bad. Nice lady. Make An good. Nice lady give An Jaffa. Nice lady go 'way. An no see nice lady more. An go nice room…get nice food. An good boy then all go 'way. An eyes broke. Jaffa no like An more. Jaffa bad. An no like."

An was starting to get upset again so Jack hushed him. "OK, it's OK, it was just a dream, they're not here. There's no bad Jaffa here. No Jaffa at all apart from Teal'c and he's definitely not bad. You understand?"

An nodded. "Teal'c good," he said and then sighed. "Jack good, Sam good."

"That's it," Jack praised. "And don't forget Nyan and Doctor Janet."

An nodded again and then fell quiet.

"You OK, Bud?" Jack prompted and, on receiving a silent nod from An asked, "Anything else in your dream? How about before I went 'bye? Was there anything before that?"

An thought for a moment and then shook his head. "No, Jack, no more. An stone room. Jack go 'bye. Room go clang, bang, Jack, An hu…hur..." An couldn't say any more as his speech was halted by a jaw cracking yawn.

Jack rocked him back and forth. "It's OK, An. It's OK. I know it hurt. Nasty room go clang, bang, hurt An. Never again, An, never again. Now I think you're about ready to go to sleep again now. We'll get Janet to check you over in the morning but hopefully there'll be no more nightmares tonight. Let's go pee and go back to bed."

An scrambled up Jack's body and wrapped his legs around him to be carried. Sam smiled, got off the bed and held a hand out to help Jack up. She then perched on the chair by the desk and waited for the two of them to return before taking her own turn in the bathroom. As she clambered back into bed next to An she wondered what had happened to getting his bed transferred to their room. She hadn't thought about it when they'd all gone to bed that evening and Jack hadn't mentioned it. The Major looked down at her bed-mates and sighed - the way An was clinging to Jack it was pretty obvious that he wouldn't have stayed in his own bed even if it had been there anyway.


	100. Chapter 100

~#~ (Chapter 100)

In the morning when everyone awoke Jack called Janet while Sam went out for breakfast. The two women arrived back at the room together and found a newly showered and dressed An and Jack waiting for them.

Jack and Sam told Janet about the disturbance in the night and Janet was intrigued by An's new understanding of the English language. Jack queried why An seemed to be able to understand them perfectly but didn't seem to be able to vocalise it properly.

Janet shrugged at that and reminded the Colonel that they had no precedent to work from where An was concerned. "Never before have we come across a kidified version of an adult human being - or any other type of being, come to think of it," she said and then went on to remind Jack that children continually developed and adapted their vocal skills over their formative years and that, with use, she hoped that An would also, eventually, speak normally. "In the mean time, Colonel, at least you can communicate easier. It can't hurt that An now appears to be able to understand the language most commonly spoken around the base. It will certainly make life simpler and release Nyan from his need for continuous translations."

~#~

After that the three adults talked quietly among themselves while An sat behind Jack and munched on some toast. As they talked it was agreed that the Tok'ra device would have to be used just one more time to unravel exactly what An's subconscious memory had unearthed in the early hours of that morning. Janet then called General Hammond who requested that the relevant personnel meet in the briefing room as soon as possible.

Jack managed to persuade An to stay in the VIP room and finish his breakfast with Sam and then promised that if he was good he could the go with the Major to visit Noya. Sam didn't like being excluded from what promised to be a lively briefing but understood that it was so the others could discuss An without him being able to listen in. It was one thing talking about the boy when he couldn't understand what was going on around him but it was another thing entirely discussing his memories - or lack thereof - now that he'd seemingly gained back his understanding of the English language overnight.

~#~

Jacob and the two Tok'ra scientists had stayed the night on Earth. Jarak and B'nar had spent the night in VIP rooms on base and Jacob had taken General Hammond up on his offer of his spare room for the night. Even with Selmak along for the ride the two had consumed a great deal of scotch and had done a lot of catching up and reminiscing over old times. By the time everyone - Nyan and Teal'c included - had gathered in the briefing room it was clear that both Generals looked less stressed than they had when they'd left the night before.

~#~

Once Jack, with help from Janet, had explained that some more of Daniel's memories had surfaced during the night the two Tok'ra scientists began a frantic, whispered conversation between themselves. After a few moments Jarak stepped forwards and squatted next to Jack. She looked nervously up at Teal'c, who was a standing sentinel behind him, before continuing.

"Colonel O'Neill," she murmured. "If the boy has truly remembered the moments before his unfortunate…demise then we merely need to program the memory device to relive the details of his dream from last night. In a way this is fortuitous situation as it is more likely to be safer than attempting to locate and view those particular memories in their original position. It seems that the dream memories only go back to a certain point and that will limit how far back the machine can take you - you will be able to view the memories from last night without risk of travelling further back then you want to. If, for some reason, the machine takes the child's memories back to before the dream sequence then you will merely experience part of the last evening or maybe the last moments before sleeping. If you truly wish to discover what happened to your friend then the only way to do that is to use the device and I shall be ready to sever the connection between them at the slightest indication from yourself. I would understand if you do not wish to be linked with the boy again but I think it is something that you could, in future years, come to regret."

Jack realised that the whole 'do we, don't we' continue decision had been placed squarely on his shoulders. Truthfully that was the way it should have been anyway - Jack was An's guardian and primary care-giver and other than the boy the only person the devices were going to affect was Jack himself. He knew that Janet could override him if she felt there was a medical need but Jack could see that even she was waiting patiently for the Colonel to sort through his thoughts and make a decision.

Eventually he nodded, exhaling hard as he did so.

"Let's get it done. Baby steps, people. Little tiny, baby steps."

~#~

Janet used the phone in the General's office to call the Iso room and ask that Sam meet them in the lab where the Tok'ra equipment was set up. General Hammond stood up and gave his best wishes to Jack who thanked him before standing up and leaving the room, closely followed by Teal'c. Everyone else followed suit and it was a quiet procession that filed down the corridor, into the elevator and up to the waiting lab.

Teal'c, who hadn't been present in the lab the day before, looked through the door and promptly decided that he would wait in the corridor. Jack and Nyan, who were both surprised that Sam hadn't beaten them to the lab, waited with him while Jacob, Jarak and B'nar passed by into the room.

~#~

After a short while Teal'c suddenly tensed up, interrupting the quiet murmured conversation between Nyan and Jack. "MajorCarter, the child known as An and another will be here monetarily," he announced.

Sure enough only moments later Sam appeared from round the corner and came slowly into view. Quite apart from the fact that she had Noya snuggled under her left arm and she was chatting animatedly to Mollie Fountain who was walking beside her, the main thing that was slowing her down was An. The little boy was on his feet and walking slowly down the corridor with one hand clutched tightly in the material of Sam's right pant leg. His other hand was clasping 'Dog' tightly against his chest and Jack briefly wondered what had happened to the blue baby blanket that An was usually inseparable from. Each time Sam took a step - each one obviously carefully controlled so as not to dislodge An's grip - the boy would trot forwards a couple of paces until he was once again level with the Major.

Jack couldn't help but smile at the rush of warmth that flowed through him on seeing his family approach. From the serene, trouble-free look in her eyes to the naturally relaxed way that she held the baby Sam looked at peace. An, although it was more difficult to tell with him, looked comfortable walking beside her and Noya was her usual cheerful, smiley self. For a child so recently displaced from a largely agrarian society she had settled surprisingly well into life that was, temporarily at least, mainly below ground.

'Babies', Jack thought, 'are amazingly adaptable.'

~#~

Jack stepped towards the little group as they got nearer and Sam chuckled when he drew a shriek from both children. His first 'victim' was Noya, she was always an easy target as she giggled seemingly at the drop of a hat. He tickled the baby under her chin and then ran the forefinger of both his hands down across her shoulder blades and under her armpits where he wiggled them mercilessly until the infectious little giggles turned into a high-pitched, delighted squeal.

An had stopped at the moment Sam had and was listening to Noya's delighted sounds with a smirk on his face. When he heard a rustle of clothes and the clomp of shoes on the hard concrete floor he knew that Jack had finished playing with the baby and tensed up in readiness in case Jack decided to 'attack' him next.

Unsurprisingly that was exactly what Jack had in mind however he had no intention of frightening the boy so he let out a quiet "Hey, you" before he grabbed him tightly around his ribs, lifted him off the ground and threw him gently in the air. When Jack caught him again he realised that An's T-shirt and was showing too tempting a target to ignore. He lifted the boy up until his stomach was at the right level and then blew a very damp-sounding raspberry on the little stomach before him.

It took An a moment to work out exactly what was being done to him but as his belly started to vibrate under Jack's lips he let out a breathy squeak. This wasn't enough for Jack so he drew his mouth back to breath and then attacked again.

This time An knew what was coming and didn't have to think about what was going to happen next. He had come to know that Jack meant safety, in the same way that Nyan had after he'd first arrived at the SGC. Jack had held him through his nightmares, had talked to him, had carried him around, had shared his bed and every single meal with him over the last couple of days and at that moment, without the boy even realising it was happening, An finally allowed the stress, anxiety and nervous tension, that his life with the Goa'uld had given him, to bleed away.

For the first time since he came into being, An felt free.


	101. Chapter 101

~#~ (Chapter 101)

All too soon the touching family reunion had to come to an end. Jack flipped An over and hoisted him onto his left shoulder so the boy's upper half was hanging face down behind him and then turned and headed back down the corridor towards Nyan and Teal'c. Jack deliberately jiggled with every step and this caused An to swing around on his shoulder and produce a deep 'huh' sound every time he breathed out. Sam watched them worriedly for a moment until she realised that each whooshed breath was followed by a breathless cry of 'more' and a giggle. She shook her head and chuckled quietly to herself. Life with Jack would never have been dull in the first place but life with Jack now that he had a little playmate - that was going to be remarkable!

Sam gave Noya a brief hug and handed the little girl over to Mollie. She then quickly followed after Jack but turned to wave 'bye-bye' to Noya before she got too far away from her.

~#~

Nyan pushed the lab door open as Jack approached which allowed the Colonel to sweep his giggling charge straight into the small room and then 'accidentally' drop him onto one of the beds. An sensed the presence of the three Tok'ra as soon as he entered the room but, unlike the day before, he wasn't worried by them. He could tell that they were the same people he had met the day before and basically ignored them, continuing to devote all his attention on Jack who had sat down on the bed next to him.

Jack knew it was time to get serious and gently brought An to a sitting position on the bed beside him. "An, how much of mine, Janet and Sam's conversation did you overhear this morning?" he asked.

An shook his head and hunched his shoulders slightly. He pulled the blue baby blanket out from where it had ended up beneath his bottom and patted around himself until he found the dog. He then gathered both of them together and hugged them tight against his chest. His bottom lip curled inwards and he began to worry it with his teeth in a frighteningly familiar way. Adult Daniel would always chew his lip whenever he was anxious, worried or afraid and it looked like this was one of Daniel's mannerisms that now survived through An.

"Don't tell me none, I know you could hear at least some of it," Jack coaxed him as he gently run his thumb down An's chin to free the captured lip. "You're not going to be in trouble, if that's what you think. I'm not going to get mad and I'm not going to send you away. Remember what I told you? Never. I'm never sending you away."

An huffed out a long, slow breath before answering. "You want look my head 'gain," he said quietly and let go of the blanket/dog combination for long enough to tap the index finger of his right hand against the small circular bruise on his temple. "You want look my dream. My dream bad Jack. Hurt, Jack. Me no want look my dream 'gain."

Jack put an arm around An's shoulders and leaned the small boy towards him. "I know, Buddy. But it will be the last time, I promise. Don't you want to try and make sense of that dream? If you understand it properly then maybe it won't seem quite so frightening if you have it again. And…and if I understand it as well…if I can see the dream…then I can better understand what's so scary about it. Does that make sense?"

An thought for a moment. "Jack do good," he said, nodding as he spoke. "Jack make feel better…help me…not scared. Jack no hurt?"

Jack ran the fingers of his left hand through his own hair and then drew An in even closer and stroked the boy's baby-soft hair. "Never, Bud. I'd never hurt you. Might not be very pleasant, this…looking through your dream thing but it'll only be this once and I'll be with you all the way. OK? We good?"

An nodded slowly. "We good. As long last time. Not nice. No more."

"Definitely the last time," Jack agreed. "I've already promised that and I'll promise it again. No more after today. No more after looking at your dream." He looked up and his eyes hunted for Jacob. When he located him Jack was gratified to see agreement in the older man's eyes. No-one was going to take this out of Jack's hands and no-one was going to force him to go back on his promise and use the memory device on An again. Jack had a sneaky suspicion that all three Tok'ra would disappear back through the wormhole within hours of finishing this last round of memory recalls. After that the device would be way out of reach of anyone who may wish to use it for means far less innocuous than reliving the nightmares of a small boy. It would also be out of the way of the NID, the Trust or anyone else who would stop at nothing to get such a potentially-valuable piece of equipment.

~#~

Nyan waited for Sam to pass into the room and then motioned to Teal'c to precede him. The large Jaffa shook his head. "I commend you for the thought, NyanBedrosan, however the room is rather small so I shall remain here. Be assured though that, should you require my assistance, you merely need to call my name and I will enter."

Nyan nodded, followed Sam into the room and then closed the door behind himself.


	102. Chapter 102

~#~ (Chapter 102)

When Jack was back on his own bed and An was settled into Nyan's lap Janet once again dosed the pair of them up with a tiny dose of sedative. This was a faster acting variety than the one she had used the day before and also came with the added advantage that the recovery time was much shorter. The general consensus was that this final session with the devices would be much quicker than that of the previous day and that a long-lasting sedative would therefore not be needed. Also Jack was scheduled to debrief everyone at three o'clock that afternoon on what he had seen via the memory devices. The Colonel would need to have been 'firing on all cylinders' for a considerable time before that to get his thoughts together so all in all Janet felt that she'd made the right decision with changing drugs.

~#~

Once everyone settled down Jarak moved back over to her machinery, B'nar went first to Jack and fitted the small device to his temple. He then moved over to Nyan and An and spoke quietly to the pair of them before fitting An's device. Janet remained firmly in her position beside Jack, who hadn't taken his eyes of B'nar the whole time, and then rolled her eyes at him and pushed him down to lie against the mattress.

Once B'nar signalled that An was ready Jack closed his eyes and Jarak switched the machine on.

~#~

Both Jack and An winced as the connection became active and, at a waved hand from Jack, Jarak turned back time on the machine.

Jack realised that she had gone back slightly too far when he was receiving no visual input from the device. He soon realised that he was 'remembering' the afternoon before and it was clear to the Colonel that An had been in a deep state of shock when he got back to the VIP room.

After a while An's confusion and upset started to fade and Jack became aware of Noya's presence in his memories. Jack was amazed at the level of comfort that An took from having the baby girl nearby and how she brought feelings of safety, companionship and family to the front of the little boy's mind.

Once Sam took Noya back out of the room An slipped back slightly into his more usual state of consciousness and sat quietly with Jack until Sam returned with the supper. He had, apparently, enjoyed the warm chocolate milk far more than the strawberry flavoured protein drink that Janet had presented him with earlier and Jack vowed to try a little of each of Janet's 'milkshakes' to find out exactly what they was forcing An drink.

Once supper was out of the way Jack was aware of a normal night-time routine taking place. An was soon ready for bed and Jack shuddered when he had a weird moment where he remembered being snuggled safely between himself and Sam.

~#~

There was a period of absolutely nothingness when An was asleep and then suddenly jumbled visual images began springing into Jack's mind. The dream sequence was about to begin.

~#~

The first thing Jack managed to clearly make out in An's dream was the sandstone wall full of squiggles and some mumbled conversation where Daniel had obviously been talking to himself. After a fair amount of mumbling and pointing of lanterns up and down the walls An, Jack and Daniel-in-the dream jumped when a voice sounded from somewhere behind them. Jack experienced a completely surreal moment at that point when An remembered turning around. Jack, looking out through Daniel's bespectacled eyes, found himself staring at a ball-cap wearing, P-90 toting, Colonel Jack O'Neill. A Jack O'Neill who informed him briefly about Sam and Teal'c's lack of success in their hunt for the UAV followed by a confusing discussion about 'Goddesses' and regeneration chambers.' He had then gone on to completely derail Daniel from what he was doing by cheerfully spouting nonsense about 'Carter, babies and IQ tests'.

Jack had never realised before just how completely he used to disrupt Daniel with his inane conversations. His friend had always returned to what he was doing immediately when Jack had stopped talking to him and the Colonel had always figured that the younger man had only humoured him by half listening to his frivolous chatter. Jack now realised that, no matter how distracted Daniel had seemed to be, he had actually turned most of his attention onto Jack. What Jack had to say was usually important after all - it was usually buried deep, deep within sarcasm and flippancy but it was important none the less.

Dream-Jack patted Daniel on the shoulder, told him he was going to report in to Hammond and then left down the same dark passageway that he had recently arrived from.

Once Jack was gone Daniel moved to another section of wall and dragged yet another book out of his pack. Another period of mumbling followed along with Daniel doing a lot of scribbling in one of his field journals.

After a fair amount of scribbling the archaeologist let out a quiet exclamation of "Ah. Jack, I've got it." He then stood up and looked around and Jack could feel the disappointment that his young friend had felt when he remembered that Jack wasn't there to share his discovery. With a heart-rending sigh Daniel then turned back to the wall and grabbed the lantern. Carefully, now he knew what he was looking for, he scanned the walls until he found the appropriate section and then sat the lantern on the floor with a quiet "yes, I'm right!"

"Jack," he began again before breaking off with a sigh. "Oh, Jack, it's a shame you're not here. You'd love this - especially after that last daft conversation we just had. It's a test. An intelligence test of all things! I wonder…"

With that, Daniel stopped talking to the empty room and gently began to run his fingers over a series of icons carved into the sandstone. To Jack - watching from Daniel's viewpoint - what he was doing seemed completely random but it had obviously meant something to Daniel. The archaeologist got bolder as he progressed through the test and by the time another ten minutes had passed he was positively flying through each section on the wall.

Daniel suddenly leant forwards and - for no apparent reason - pressed hard against the 'head' of an engraving that - to Jack - looked very much like a child's depiction of a snowman. The tips of Daniel's index and middle fingers of his right hand followed the snowman's head as it sunk deep into the rock wall and the archaeologist quickly snatched them backwards and scrambled to his feet. A faint vibration in the floor was the only warning he got before Goa'uld transport rings dropped through the ceiling of the chamber, dislodging large amounts of dust and rubble which fell both onto Daniel and around him. With their tell-tale clanging noises and whooshes of air the rings then retracted again, taking with them Jack's now-wounded archaeologist, some large chunks of broken sandstone and an awful lot of dust.


	103. Chapter 103

~#~ (Chapter 103)

Back in the lab Jack's eyes flew open and he lurched forwards, looking frantically around the room. When it looked as if he might be about to launch himself off the bed Janet, who had remained beside him, placed both hands firmly in the centre of his chest and pressed him back down as firmly as she dared. Jack, whose mind wasn't quite back in the lab, started badly and grabbed hold of her wrists. He was just preparing to throw the doctor off of him when Jacob stepped across the room and added his hands to the fray to protect the small woman.

With Selmak adding strength to Jacob's grip Jack was effectively pinned. This was just enough to shock him back to awareness and, once he realised he had Janet's hands in a death-grip, he very suddenly let go.

Once they were convinced that Jack was really back with them both Janet and Jacob stepped back slightly, to give him some space and to allow him to see An, who was - like the day before - barely visible, with his face buried in Nyan's T-shirt. It was only at this point that Jack realised he was receiving no input from the memory device. Jarak had flicked it off the moment that Jack had tried to sit up. Not knowing exactly what was happening with the Colonel she had actually switched it off instead of pausing it however she knew that once it was switched back on it would continue from the point in the memory where it was switched off.

~#~

Janet was rubbing at one of her wrists, an unconscious motion that Jack couldn't fail to notice. The Colonel watched her guiltily for a couple of seconds before reaching out and, with one finger hooked in the pocket of her lab coat - attempted to pull the little doctor towards him. Looking down at her hands and then back at him, Janet realised what Jack was trying to do and moved back to within his easy reach. She then placed her wrists into his upturned palms and allowed him to massage the area where bruises were sure to form over the next couple of days.

"Mind telling us that was all about?" she asked as Jack worked on her wrists.

She initially doubted that he was going to reply when his eyes fell to the bed and a frown formed on his brow. Eventually though Jack cleared his throat. "He wasn't under there, Doc." At Janet's confused expression he repeated himself. "He wasn't under there." Realising that this didn't clear anything up he tried again. "Daniel, Doc. Daniel wasn't under that God damn pyramid. He…well I suppose he made it come down but he wasn't under it when it fell."

It was Janet's turn to frown now. "What do you mean, he wasn't under there? Where was he then? I fail to believe that even Daniel could single-handedly cause that level of destruction and even if he did, how could he possibly get out? That collapse was total, I saw that and so did you, Colonel. You didn't even make it all the way in and I'm certain Daniel didn't pass by without you noticing."

Jack shook his head sadly. "Rings, Doc. He pressed something on that damn wall of squiggles and some God damn Goa'uld rings appeared from nowhere. Brought half the ceiling down with them an' all - great lumps of rubble and the rubble took Danny down. The rings, they spirited him off somewhere, I don't know where but he was hurt bad, Doc. He was hurt real bad."

Janet nodded sadly and cast her gaze over at the huddled form of An. "I was kind of hoping that he wasn't going to remember the pain," she said quietly. "He's been through so much in such a short space of time - and I'm sure there's things that we may never find out about. Why, Jack? Why does he have to remember the worst parts?"

Jack lifted Janet's left hand and gave her arm a gentle tug. This had the desired effect of turning the doctor's attention back to Jack where he could quietly talk to her.

"This is the start of it, Jan," he murmured. "The start of everything. There's no way we can find out exactly what happened without working our way through the bad parts…and Doc?" Jack tugged at her hand again until Janet raised her eyes to meet his. "From what I saw yesterday this isn't the worst part. Not by a long shot. Possibly it's the most painful part - in a physical sense - but you and me both know that there's things that are much worse to deal with than physical pain."

Janet nodded again and slowly removed her arm from Jack's loose grasp. She then turned and walked over to Nyan. Stopping beside the Bedrosian she carded her fingers gently through An's soft hair and assured herself that he was alright to continue.

Her worries assuaged Janet then stepped back across the room and retook her place at Jack's side. At a nod from Jack she motioned Jarak to switch the machine back on.


	104. Chapter 104

**~#~**

**WARNING. Blood/gore & Character death in this chapter (but don't worry, it's not permanent!).**

**~#~**

~#~ (Chapter 104)

The machine resumed its playback just as the transport rings dumped Daniel and his collection of rubble and dirt into what Jack could only describe as a 'sterile environment'. From Daniel's viewpoint on the floor everything was white. The walls were white and presumably shiny because Jack could see the ultra-bright lights in the ceiling reflecting off them. More information than 'white and shiny' Jack couldn't glean though because Daniel had lost his glasses when the rocks had initially fallen on him and everything was frustratingly fuzzy and lacking in detail.

As well as the white walls and the too-bright ceiling lights Jack could make out what amounted to a white marble counter running the entire length of the wall that Daniel was currently facing. Somewhere past Daniel's head, just inside his field of vision, was another huge slab of white marble which sat on its own in the middle of the floor. It reminded Jack very much of the island unit that Sara had insisted he install in their first kitchen very soon after they were married.

Jack then became aware that Daniel hadn't moved all the while that Jack had been perusing the room. Every now and then Daniel's eyelids would slowly obscure his vision before popping open again and Jack wondered briefly if the injured archaeologist had been stunned by his sudden drop to the floor.

Jack continued to silently watch through Daniel's eyes and soon realised that Daniel's eyelids were getting heavier all the time. With his body remaining completely motionless Daniel eventually succumbed to unconsciousness and Jack was plunged into darkness for a time.

~#~

When Daniel awoke it was with a sudden start immediately followed by blind panic. He was choking and he couldn't move a muscle or do anything to alleviate the blockage in his throat. Watching and experiencing everything from Daniel's point of view, Jack unfortunately had front row seats when Daniel's body began to rebel. The muscles across in the archaeologist's chest spasmed in the beginnings of a cough. The cough unfortunately never materialised due to the sharp stabbing pain that ran from Daniel's neck to the base of his spine as soon as the muscles in his chest contracted.

Rather than the cough that would have made him exhale and could have potentially blown any blockage up into or even out of his mouth, the sudden jolt of pain made Daniel inhale instead. As he struggled to take a breath Daniel's head rocked weakly back and forth.

The blockage, a haematoma, had been caused when rubble from the damaged cavern had crushed a section of the archaeologist's windpipe. The crushed section had gradually swelled and filled with blood while Daniel had been unconscious and had eventually blocked off his airway completely. When Daniel tried to inhale he dislodged the swelling but in the process caused a shard of broken bone to puncture the outer skin of the blood-filled mass. The pressure that had built up was released and the result was catastrophic.

Jack felt Daniel's elation when he finally managed to take a breath, only for that elation to immediately turn to horror when the archaeologist discovered that he had breathed in a lungful of fluid along with only a tiny bit of air. Jack found himself panting along with Daniel's futile attempts to draw breath and tears began running down his face as he felt Daniel weaken. The cough that had been threatening earlier finally arrived and, accompanied by a horrendous, gut-wrenching scream, Daniel's lungs emptied themselves onto the dusty white floor in a plume of deep crimson arterial blood and a haze of pain.

As he started to lose his grip on consciousness, visions of Daniel's friends and family began to float in front of him. Friends who survived him, people he knew and loved, Jack, Sam, Teal'c and the General; Janet, Cassie and Mary-Louise who lived across the street and loved baking cookies. As Daniel weakened and coughed up more and more of his precious life-blood, the faces morphed into loved ones who had passed before him. His mother and father floated in front of him, they were replaced by Kawalsky, Sha're and Nabeh, the young Abydonian boy who had been killed by one of Ra's death gliders so many years before.

Jack felt the exact moment that Daniel realised that death was upon him. A sense of peace came over the archaeologist and he gave up all attempts at trying to force air down into his tortured lungs. Jack steeled himself in preparation for watching his friend's last moments but what he wasn't expecting was Daniel's final vision. A bright shining light opened up in front of him, a light so bright that Jack wanted to put his hands in front of his face to shade his eyes from the glare. A figure stepped from within the light and very soon a solemn, brown-eyed boy could be seen. He was standing in front of the light and beckoning Daniel to go with him.

Charlie - Jack's beloved son Charlie - had come to collect Daniel for his final journey.


	105. Chapter 105

~#~ (Chapter 105)

Janet saw the tears rolling down Jack's cheeks from his tightly scrunched eyes and looked worriedly over at Sam. The Major cast her eyes over Jack's face and shook her head gently. Jack hadn't indicated that he wanted the machine paused and less interruptions meant that the whole ordeal would be over sooner…for everyone involved.

Janet nodded in response and the two women resumed their silent vigil over their silver haired friend.

~#~

As the vision of Charlie faded with the last light in Daniel's eyes everything went dark and quiet. Whether the very essence of Daniel had gone elsewhere Jack was unsure but wherever Daniel was he, and An, had apparently been left behind.

~#~

Less than a minute later the memory device seemed to spring back to life. Bright shining lights shone down into Daniel's eyes and swirls of red and blue appeared and disappeared in the extremities of his visual field. There was no pain and, Jack suddenly realised, Daniel was no longer lying on the cold, white floor.

The archaeologist was flat on his back, with his eyes open, staring up at the ceiling and Jack realised that someone must have lifted Daniel's body onto the 'island unit' that he had been lying beside when he'd died.

~#~

It soon became obvious that Jack's assumption of Daniel's position was indeed correct when, after a long period of lying completely immobile the blurred swirls of red and blue suddenly ceased. The cessation of the coloured lights was immediately followed by the soft touch of gentle hands on Daniel's cheeks and the concerned face of an elderly-looking, female Jaffa appearing in front of his eyes.

The hands turned Daniel's head just a fraction towards their owner but the archaeologist gave no outward indication that he was conscious. Apart from the fact that Jack and An could see through his eyes there was no sign whatsoever that Daniel was anything other than, still, completely dead.

The Jaffa presumably came to the same conclusion as Jack - that whatever she had done to 'fix' Daniel had not worked. She watched him for a moment longer before blinking her deep-brown, almond-shaped eyes and turning away.

~#~

The red and blue lights started up again but Daniel showed no acknowledgement of the fact. Jack realised with a start that Daniel wasn't even blinking. Whatever spark of life now resided in Daniel's body was literally that - a spark, the barest glow of an ember, nothing more. There was no essence of Daniel within these memories - no interest in what was going on around him - no…anything.

~#~

When the lights cut off again the elderly woman returned and repeated her earlier inspection of the still totally-unresponsive archaeologist. With a deep sigh she gently positioned his head back flat on the tabletop and stroked his hair down with her wrinkled hand, a sad, faraway look on her face.

~#~

After a quiet moment she turned aside and reached for something outside of Daniel's field of vision.

When she turned back the Jaffa held four grey metallic stones in her left hand. Reverently she lifted the stones to her lips and kissed each one before, with utmost care, she leant over and positioned the stones along Daniel's body. The first one she placed upon his navel, the second over his heart, the third was rested in the indentation beneath his adam's apple and the fourth was placed gently on Daniel's forehead, right in the soft patch of skin between his eyebrows.

The woman then stood beside her charge and looked him sadly up and down as if giving him one last chance to show her any sign of life. Daniel gave her no sign, he lay exactly where she had left him - staring insensibly at the ceiling - so she murmured some words in a voice so quiet that only she could hear and, once again, disappeared from view.

~#~

When the blue and red lights appeared this time they were accompanied by a series of neon-green lasers that scanned up and down Daniel's body. Each laser eventually settled on one of the stones that sat upon Daniel's person and, once they had locked on, began to pulse in a rhythm that reminded Jack of the Doppler monitor that had broadcast Charlie's heartbeat loudly into the room while the little tyke had been safely hidden inside Sara's swollen belly.

Once all four lasers were pulsing in a synchronised pattern a high-pitched squealing noise was heard from the direction of the ceiling. The pulsing of the lasers became faster and, upon some unknown signal, they began to sweep backwards and forwards across Daniel's body. Each time they passed over the stones a mass of little 'mini-lasers' erupted and Jack could do nothing but sit by and watch, as these mini-bursts began to burn their way through Daniel's clothing, skin, sinew and eventually bone.


	106. Chapter 106

~#~ (Chapter 106)

At some point during the 'treatment' Daniel's spark of life had given up whatever hold it had on him and he, Jack and An were once again plunged into darkness. This time however, when the lights eventually came back on Daniel, or some small part of him, was back.

Not really aware what was happening, but knowing that it couldn't be good, Daniel tried to grab on to something that he could use to roll himself over. His fingers touched fabric so he clenched his fist and pulled, only to find that his hand came back filled with long strips of material which the archaeologist had to raise to his eyes to view.

Daniel found that the material, delivered to eye level by a hand that was totally unfamiliar but that was, for whatever reason, responding to his commands, consisted of thin ribbons of thick olive-green cotton. As he shook them out and looked at them in confusion Daniel found that one of the strips had a patch of black on it with two sides of a white triangle standing out proudly in the centre. The newly awoken man looked at the piece of cloth for a moment. He knew the triangle was important in some way but he didn't know why, he only knew that it was.

A shuffling noise in the background broke Daniel from his reverie over the unknown symbol on the strip of cloth. He didn't know who or what was coming towards him but he knew that it was vitally important that he didn't lose the piece of material. For whatever reason he knew that it was imperative that no-one take it away from him so, with the black patch clenched tightly against the palm, he wrapped it around and around the unfamiliar hand that was holding it, tied it into a vague sort of a knot and tucked it under his chin.

~#~

Barely ten seconds after he'd finished sorting out the material situation the elderly Jaffa appeared next to the stone slab that he was lying on. Even though he didn't recognise her Daniel knew he had nothing to fear from the kindly-looking old woman.

Jack snorted out loud at this. In his opinion Daniel had always been far too trusting of people he didn't know. The female Jaffa may have looked old and worn but so did Master Bra'tac and, as the old man had proved to Jack on many an occasion, looks could be certainly be deceiving.

The elderly woman was the only living being that Jack had seen since Daniel had activated the transport rings back in the pyramid and, by the general air of loneliness that she exuded, Jack assumed that she was alone. Someone, and Jack suspected it was the old woman, had lifted Daniel's body off the floor and placed it on the stone slab. Someone, presumably the same person, had also taken the time and effort to try and raise Daniel from the dead before the lasers had done…whatever it was they had done that had finally brought him back to life.

'No,' Jack thought. 'No one should ever underestimate a Jaffa…of any age…or gender.'

~#~

The elderly Jaffa seemed please to see Daniel awake and wrapped her arms around him. Her faded blue robes smelt musty and the coarsely-woven material scratched against his face but the hug felt good - so good that he couldn't remember ever needing a hug more.

As this thought crossed his mind Daniel - and by means of the memory device attached to his temple, Jack - realised that he couldn't remember anything before waking up on the slab. He didn't know who he was, where he was or how he got there. He didn't know who the person hugging him was, nor why she was hugging him. He didn't even know his own name and this panicked him.

The Jaffa felt the hitch in Daniel's breathing through her thick layers of her clothing and realised what was about to happen. She quickly pushed him upright before sliding herself onto the bed beside him and pulling him into her lap. 'Ha,' Jack thought, as she bundled Daniel up in her robes. 'I knew she wasn't to be underestimated.'

The old woman had just finished getting Daniel situated when a high pitched keening wail burst forth. The noise he created panicked him further but the old woman held him firm and allowed him to vent his frustrations and fears in the only way possible for him at that moment.

~#~

As his energy levels wore down the screams gradually subsided and petered out completely when Daniel fell asleep, still safely cocooned within the folds of the Jaffa woman's robes.

It was only once Daniel was asleep that Jack realised why it had been so easy for the Jaffa to pick Daniel up and manhandle him. The lasers had caused Daniel to become the child that would, at some point in the not too distant future, become known as An. Jack also realised that this was why Daniel couldn't recognise his own hand - he didn't know it but he was looking for an adult hand, not the child-sized version that adorned the end his now child-sized arm.

The Daniel that Jack and his friends knew and loved had gone and in his place was a scared and confused little boy. Daniel Jackson's memories and experiences had been all but completely destroyed, with just the vaguest tantalising hint of recollection occasionally bleeding through into his new consciousness - relevant to only the very most important features of his previous life.

Jack sighed heavily and then concentrated as the last section of the dream sequence began.


End file.
